Transplantation of rats spinal cord derived neural stem cell for the repair of transectionai spinal cord injury

Objective To study the significance of rat spinal cord derived neural stem cell trans- plantation for the repair of transectional spinal cord injury(SCI).Methods One hundred and sixty S-D rats approximately weighing 200-250 g were used for this study.The rats were randomized into cell transplantation group,sham operation group,simple injury group and vacant group.After the cells of spinal cord derived neural stem cell were separated and cultured in vitro to the fifth generation,the cells were transplanted onto the transectionally injured spinal cord.The rats in the simple injury group and sham operation group were injected with the same dose of saline as in the transplantation group.One,2,4 weeks after cell transplantation,the function was evaluated.Results At 1st,2nd and 4th week after in- jury,the angles of tilting board in the transplantation and simple injury group were(38.30±0.84)°, (18.50±0.76)°;(39.40±0.78)°,(19.70±0.66)°;(45.00±0.81)°,(22.30±0.69)°.The Tarlov scores of hindlimb function in the transplantation and simple injury group were 3.37±0.45,2.32±0.34;3.45±0.38,2.41±0.43;3.63±0.47,2.45±0.48(P＜0.01).The functional recovery of spinal cord was better in the transplantation group than in the simple injury group.Conclusion The cul- tured spinal cord derived cells repaired the injured spinal cord to some extent.