title: Intra-Arterial MSC Transplantation Restores Functional Capacity After Skeletal Muscle Trauma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Skeletal muscle trauma leads to severe functional deficits, which cannot be addressed by current treatment options. Our group could show the efficacy of local transplantation of mesenchymal stroma cells (MSCs) for the treatment of injured muscles. While local application of MSCs has proven to be effective, we hypothesized that a selective intra-arterial transplantation would lead to a better distribution of the cells and so improved physiological recovery of muscle function.
  
  
  METHODS
  18 female Sprague Dawley rats received an open crush trauma of the left soleus muscle. Autologous MSC were transduced using dsCOP-GFP and 2.5 x 10(6)cells were transplanted into the femoral artery of 9 animals one week after trauma. Control animals (n=9) received a saline injection. Cell tracking, analysis of tissue fibrosis and muscle force measurements were performed after 3 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Systemic MSC-therapy improved the muscle force significantly compared to control (fast twitch: 82.4%, tetany: 61.6%, p = 0.02). The histological analysis showed no differences in the quantity of fibrotic tissue. Histological examination revealed no cells in the traumatized muscle tissue 21 days after transplantation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrated an effect of systemically administered MSCs in the treatment of skeletal muscle injuries. For possible future therapeutic approaches a systemic application of MSCs seems to present an alternative to a local administration. Such systemic treatment would be preferable since it allows functional improvement and possible cellular concentration at injury sites that are not easily accessible.
authors.affiliation: Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery and Julius Wolff Institute, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Free and Humboldt-University of Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: von Roth
authors.forename: Georg N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Duda
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Radojewski
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Preininger
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Strohschein
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Röhner
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Perka
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Winkler