Effect of transplantation approach on homing of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and recovery of liver function in rats

Objectives To observe the effect of transplantation approach on homing of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and promoting liver regeneration in rats after hepatectomy.Methods Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(about 1.5×106 each rat) labeled with DAPI were injected via the tail or portal vein of rats after hepatectomy.Serum was collected to evaluate liver function on the 3rd day and the 9th day after hepatectomy.Animals were sacrificed on the 9th day to collect liver samples.Fluorescence microscopy was used to observe cell migration.Results The number of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells homing to liver was significantly higher in the rats receiving transplantation via the portal vein than those via the tail vein(18.1±3.4 vs 7.6±2.0/HPF×100).The difference was statistically significant(P0.01).The liver function of all groups improved on the 9th day after hepatectomy.There were no significant difference in ALT and AST among three groups(P0.05).ALB of the two cell transplantation groups were significantly higher than control group(P0.05),while there were no significant difference between two cell transplantation groups(P0.05).Conclusions Transplantation approach may influence MSCs homing' to liver.The transplantation via the portal vein is superior to that via the tail vein.MSC transplantation to rats after major hepatectomy can promote recovery of liver function.