Effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on proliferation and differentiation of transplanted neural stem cells of rats with spinal cord injury

Objective:To explore the effects of hyperbaric oxygen(HBO) therapy on the survival,proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells(NSCs) transplanted in the injured site of spinal cord transaction in rats.Methods:Twenty adult SD rats were divided into NSCs transplantation group(NSCs group) and HBO therapy plus NSCs transplantation group(HBO+NSCs group).T10spinal cord segments of all animals were completely transected.The rats in HBO+NSCs group and NSCs group were treated with neural stem cells transplantation after operation,and the rats in HBO+NSCs group received HBO treatment additionally.The spinal cords were taken for observing the survival,and differentiation of neural stem cells transplanted in the injured site of spinal cord transection after 28 days in rats.Results:The surviving number of transplanted NSCs in HBO+NSC group was more than that in NSCs group.In many transplanted NSCs at injured site of transected completely spinal cord and neighboring tissue,glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP) positive staining was observed in HBO+NSCs group or NSCs group.The percentage of neuron-specific enolase(NSE) positive staining cells differentiated from transplanted NSCs in HBO+NSCs group was higher than that in NSCs group.Conclusion:HBO may prolong the survival of NSCs transplanted in the injured site of rat spinal cord transected completely,and can promote the differentiation of these cells into NSE positive cells.