Experimental study on the treatment of spinal cord injury in rats with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells transplantation combined with erythropoietin

Objective The study aims to establish the steady and easily replicated models of spinal cord injury in SD rats, and to investigate the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells transplantation combined with erythropoietin for repairing spinal cord injury. Methods Models of spinal cord injury were established by Hatteras Instruments PCI3000 Precision Cortical Impactor. 120 SD rats were randomly divided into four groups:control group(group A,n= 30), erythropoietin(EPO) group(group B, n= 30), bone marrow- derived mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs) group(group C,n= 30), BMSCs and EPO associated group(group D, n= 30), Six rats in each group were scored by the Basso- Beattie- Bresnahan(BBB)locomotor rating scale to evaluate motor function on the 1th, 3th, 7th, 14th, 28th day after spinal cord injury, then rats were killed to observe cell apoptosis and the expression of nuclear factor(NF)- 200, what’s more, bromodeoxyuridine(Brd U)- positive BMSCs were examined in group C and group D. The data was analyzed by SPSS 19.0. Results The BBB scores were descendingly ordered as group D, B, C and A at 7th, 14th, 28thday after spinal cord injury(P B> C> D(P< 0.05).NF- 200 expression decreased sharply after spinal cord injury and rebounded to rise 3 days later. Groups comparison of optical density value in each time was for A< B< C< D(P<0.05).The Brd U- positive rate of group D was higher than that of group C(P< 0.05). Conclusion BMSCs cooperates with EPO could improve protection and restoration of spinal cord injury by reducing apoptosis, accelerating neuro- protein expression. Key words: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; Erythropoietin; Spinal cord injury