Therapeutic effect of transplanting bone mesenchymal stem cells on the hind limbs' motor function of rats with acute spinal cord injury.

PURPOSE To research the therapeutic effect of the allograft of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on hind limbs' motor function of rats that underwent acute injury to their spinal nerve. DESIGN 40 Wistar rat samples with the acute injury to the spinal cord were established and divided into the transplantation group and the control group, 20 for each group; One week after injury, BMSCs were slowly injected into the center of the injured spinal cord of the rats, and the physiological saline was injected into the control group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The rehabilitation of the motor function of the rats' hind limbs was observed; furthermore, eight weeks after the injury, the protein disparity of the nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) between the two groups of rats was noted. RESULTS The rehabilitation of the hind limbs' motor function of the transplantation group was significantly better than that of the control group from the third week on after injury, and the difference was of significance (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Transplanting BMSCs can boost the protein expression of NGF and BDNF in the rats which undergo acute injury to their spinal nerves. It can, therefore, significantly improve the rehabilitation of the motor function of their hind limbs. The improvement is associated with the transplantation of BMSCs which are beneficial for regeneration and repair of the rat's spinal nerves.