Comparison of different ways of transplantation of neural stem cells in spinal cord injury

Objective To observe the efficacy and feasibility of two transplantation methods with neural stem cells(NSCs) on the model of spinal cord injury(SCI) in rats.Methods 40 adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups:(A)Control group;(B) SCI group;(C) SCI+tail vein injection of NSCs group;(D) SCI+ local region transplantation group of NSCs.The distributions of NSCs in iniury region of spinal cord were analyzed two months later by immunohistochemistry.The recovered motor and sensory function of spinal cord were assessed by using brain blood barrier(BBB) scoring and cortical somatoscnsory evoked potentials(CSEP).Results NSCs signed by Brdu were found in the injury region of full-cut spinal cord,but the cell populations are distinct between the different transplantation methods.BBB of group C is difference as compared with that of group B.There was also significant difference between group D and group B.CSEP in group A was normal but disappeared in group B,C or D one day after SCI.Two months later.CSEP in group B was still disappeared but recovered in group C and D although the latency period of CSEP was prolonged.There was no significant difference between group C and D(P0.05).Conclusion Both vein injection and local transplantation into injury region with NSCs were effective methods to improve function of injured spinal cord in rats,but no significant difference was found between the two methods.