title: Optimizing the transplant dose of a human neuronal cell line graft to treat SCI pain in the rat.
abstract: Neuropathic pain is a prevalent and difficult problem in the setting of spinal cord injury (SCI). The use of cellular transplant therapy to treat this pain has been successful with the use of a human neuronal cell line, hNT2.17 [M.J. Eaton, S.Q. Wolfe, M.A. Martinez, M. Hernandez, C. Furst, J. Huang, B.R. Frydel, O. Gomez-Marin, Subarachnoid transplant of a human neuronal cell line attenuates chronic allodynia and hyperalgesia after excitotoxic SCI in the rat, J. Pain 8 (2007) 33-50]. Intrathecal transplant of these cells potently reverses behavioral hypersensitivity after excitotoxic spinal cord injury in the rat model. This study focuses on delineating the optimal dose of these cell grafts in the same model. Two weeks after intraspinal injection of quisqualic acid (QUIS) with subsequent behavioral hypersensitivity, terminally differentiated hNT2.17 cells were transplanted into 300 g Wistar-Furth rats in a logarithmic variation of doses: 10(6), 10(5) and 10(3) cells. Behavioral hypersensitivity testing was performed weekly for 6 weeks following transplant. The dose of 10(6) cells (or approximately 3 million/kg) potently and permanently reversed both cutaneous allodynia (CA) and thermal hyperalgesia (TH). Reduced transplant doses of the hNT2.17 cell line did not permanently reverse behavioral hypersensitivity, suggesting that there is an optimal dose that can be used as a clinical tool to treat SCI-associated neuropathic pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, FL 33136, United States.
authors.forename: Stacey Quintero
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Wolfe
authors.forename: Megha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.forename: Nadia M A
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Cumberbatch
authors.forename: Cassandra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Furst
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Massiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: Regine
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reimers
authors.forename: Yerko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Berrocal
authors.forename: Orlando
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gómez-Marín
authors.forename: Mary J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Eaton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016380:Brain Tissue Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D002452:Cell Count; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation*; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D010841:Pia Mater / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011920:Rats, Inbred WF; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013346:Subarachnoid Space / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid