Human cord blood transplantation in a neonatal rat model of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage: functional outcome related to neuroprotection in the striatum.
Human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (HUCB) have been shown to have a therapeutic role in different models of central nervous system (CNS) damage, including stroke. We evaluated the possible therapeutic potential of HUCB in P7 rats submitted to the Rice-Vannucci model of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain damage. Our results demonstrated that intraperitoneal transplantation of HUCB, 3 h after the HI insult, resulted in better performance in two developmental sensorimotor reflexes, in the first week after the injury. We also showed a neuroprotective effect in the striatum, and a decrease in the number of activated microglial cells in the cerebral cortex of treated animals. We suggest that HUCB transplantation might rescue striatal neurons from cell death after a neonatal HI injury resulting in better functional recovery.
Pimentel-Coelho
Pedro M
PM
Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas and Programa de Terapia Celular, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Magalhães
Elizabeth S
ES
Lopes
Laudelino M
LM
deAzevedo
Leonardo C
LC
Santiago
Marcelo F
MF
Mendez-Otero
Rosalia
R
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D002534:Hypoxia, Brain / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D020925:Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D051381:Rats; D020127:Recovery of Function; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome