As chondroitinase ABC can improve the hostile microenvironment and cell transplantation is proven to be effective after spinal cord injury, we hypothesized that their combination would be a more effective treatment option. At 5 days after T8 spinal cord crush injury, rats were injected with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell suspension or chondroitinase ABC 1 mm from the edge of spinal cord damage zone. Chondroitinase ABC was first injected, and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell suspension was injected on the next day in the combination group. At 14 days, the mean Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan score of the rats in the combination group was higher than other groups. Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that the necrotic area was significantly reduced in the combination group compared with other groups. Glial fibrillary acidic protein-chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan double staining showed that the damage zone of astrocytic scars was significantly reduced without the cavity in the combination group. Glial fibrillary acidic protein/growth associated protein-43 double immunostaining revealed that positive fibers traversed the damage zone in the combination group. These results suggest that the combination of chondroitinase ABC and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation contributes to the repair of spinal cord injury.
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