Effects of Polyethylene Glycol Administration and Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Transplantation Therapy in Spinal Cord Injury Mice

Bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) transplantation has been reported as treatments that promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) in humans and animals. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been also reported as treatments that promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) in humans and animals. Therefore, administration of PEG combined with BMSC transplantation may improve outcomes compared with BMSC transplantation only in SCI model mice. SCI mice were divided into a control-group, BMSC-group, PEG-group and BMSC+PEG-group. BMSC transplantation and PEG administration were performed immediately after surgery. Compared to the control-group, PEG- and BMSC+PEG-groups showed significant locomotor functional recovery 4 weeks after therapy. We observed no significant differences among the groups. In the BMSC- and BMSC+PEG-groups, immunohistochemistry showed that many neuronal cells aggressively migrated toward the glial scar from the region rostral of the lesion site. In the control- and PEG-groups, the boundary of the injured regions was covered with astrocytes, and a few neuronal cells were migrated toward the glial scar. We conclude that combined BMSC transplantation with PEG treatment showed no synergistic effects on locomotor functional recovery or beneficial cellular events. Further studies may improve the effect of the treatment, including modification of the timing of BMSC transplantation.