Effect of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on behavior and structural changes in myelin in experimental rat autoimmune encephalomyelitis

摘要

Purpose: To investigate the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BM-MSC) transplantation on behavior and structural changes in myelin of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in rats. Methods: Wistar rats were randomly assigned to normal control, EAE, placebo injection treatment, and MSCs treatment. EAE, placebo injection treatment and MSCs treatment groups were further divided into six groups, i.e., 1-day, 3-day, 7-day, 14-day, 21-day, and 28-day post-onset. Changes in the disease status of the rats and structural changes in myelin at different time points were assessed with silver staining. Results: Behavioral changes peaked between 13 to 17 days post-immunization (71.90 % incidence), while disease symptoms peaked between 3 and 5 days after onset, were sustained for about 7 days, and then eased gradually thereafter. The highest therapeutic scores and the entire course of the disease in EAE and placebo treatment groups were not significantly different (p 0.05). However, in MSC treatment group, these parameters were significantly lower than in the above two groups (p 0.05). In EAE and placebo treatment groups, myelin sheath lesions were obvious from day 3 to 7 but on day 14, the number of myelin sheath fragments decreased significantly. Recovery at different time points was also better than those in EAE and placebo treatment groups. Conclusion: MSC transplantation shortens the course of EAE, and also reduces its severity. Thus, it has some prospects for use in the management of EAE.