title: Improvement of Contused Spinal Cord in Rats by Cholinergic-like Neuron Therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Disability in spinal cord injury is an important medical problem, and cell transplantation is considered as an option for the treatment.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to use bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) derived cholinergic neuron-like cells (CNL) in order to ameliorate the contusion model of spinal cord injury in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  The CNLs were produced by pre inducing BMSCs with β-mercaptoethanol (BME) followed by inducing with nerve growth factor (NGF). The cells were immunoreactive to neurofilament 200, NeuN, synaptophysin, synapsin, microtubule associated protein-2 and choline acetyl transferase (ChAT). The CNL were transplanted in contused rats (CR), which were sacrificed after 12 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that BBB test showed an improvement in the CR, while the quantitative analysis showed that the improvement rate was higher in the rats treated with CNL than those treated with BMSCs only or the untreated animals, similar results were noticed in the improvement index. Immunohistochemical analysis of the tissue section prepared from the CR showed that the transplanted cells were engrafted and integrated in the traumatized spinal cord. The morphometric analysis showed that the volume density of the cavity in the CNL treated rats was significantly lower than that of the untreated ones, while the spinal tissue regeneration index was significantly higher.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The conclusion of the study is that CNL can improve the injured spinal cord.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naghdi
authors.forename: Taki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tiraihi
authors.forename: Seyed Alireza
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mesbah-Namin
authors.forename: Jalil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arabkharadmand
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kazemi
authors.forename: Taher
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taheri
keywords: Cholinergic Neurons; Contusions; Spinal Cord Injuries; Tissue Therapy