title: BMSC and CoQ10 improve behavioural recovery and histological outcome in rat model of Parkinson's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study assessed the ability of a combination treatment of bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) graft and oral coenzyme (CoQ10) in a rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD) as an appropriate substitute for current Parkinson treatments. The combination treatment was compared to sole treatments of BMSC and CoQ10.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this experimental study, there were six groups of male Wistar rats: control, sham, lesion, CoQ10, graft BMSC and graft BMSC plus CoQ10. Oral administration of CoQ10 began 1 week before the PD and continued during the entire treatment period. To simulate PD, we injected 6 hydroxydopamine (6OHDA) in rats. BMSC were labelled by 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (Brdu) before transplantation. We assessed behaviour before PD, 2 weeks after PD and 8 weeks after cell transplantation. At the end of the second month of treatment, immunohistochemistry, histology and molecular studies were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Behavioural assessment of the CoQ10 group and BMSC group indicated equal recovery in comparison with the lesion group (P<0.01), while the combined treatment of BMSC and CoQ10 showed considerably better recovery compared with the lesion group (P<0.001). There were no signs of gliosis and graft rejection. Immunohistochemistry analysis of Brdu indicated that cells were alive after 2 months of application in host tissue. Cell counts showed significantly greater numbers of neural cells in the combination treatment of BMSC and CoQ10 compared to the other groups. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene expression levels in the combined therapy group was significantly more than the other experimental groups (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combined use of two neuroprotective treatments and cell replacement therapy can be effective in the treatment of PD, at least in experimental settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Army University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Akram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nezhadi
authors.forename: Farideh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ghazi
authors.forename: Homa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rassoli
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bakhtiari
authors.forename: Zohreh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ataiy
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soleimani
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mehdizadeh