Therapeutic Benefit of Intravenous Administration of Human Umbilical Cord Blood- Mononuclear Cells Following Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Rat

OBJECTIVES Human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) is now considered as a valuable source for stem cell-based therapies. Previous studies showed that intravascular injection of the HUCB significantly improves neurological functional recovery in a rat model of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). In the present study, we hypothesize transplanted HUCB derived mononuclear cells (UC-MCs) can decrease injured volume and also ameliorate neurological function in ICH rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Experimental ICH was induced by intrastriatal administration of collagenase in rats. One day after surgery, the rats were divided into 3 groups to receive intravenously either BrdU positive human UC-MCs [(4×10(6) and 8×10(6) cells in 1 ml saline, n=10 respectively) as treated groups] or the same amount of saline [as lesion group (n=10)]. There was also one group (control) that received only vehicle solution of collagenase. The animals were evaluated for 14 days with behavioral tests. Transplanted UC-MCs were detected by immunohistochemistry. Histological data and scores of functional tests were analyzed using ANOVA. Cellular co-localization of BrdU+ cells in the histological slides was determined by software Image J. RESULTS Intravenously transplanted UC-MCs migrated selectively to the hematomal area and reduce injured volume. The UC-MCs transplanted groups showed better performance on functional tests after 2 weeks compared with the lesion and control groups (P< 0.05). There was no difference in the functional recovery and injured volume improvement between the 2 treated groups. CONCLUSION Intravenously transplanted UC-MCs accelerate neurological function recovery of ICH rat and diminish the striatum lesion size. Thus these cells may provide a potential cell candidate for cell-based therapy in ICH.