Olfactory Ensheathing Cells Rescue Optic Nerve Fibers in a Rat Glaucoma Model.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) can reduce loss of optic nerve axons after raised intraocular pressure (IOP) in the rat.


METHODS
OECs cultured from the adult olfactory mucosa were transplanted into the region of the optic disc. The IOP was raised by injection of magnetic microspheres into the anterior chamber.


RESULTS
At 4 weeks after raising the IOP, the transplanted OECs had migrated into the dorsal area of the optic nerve head (ONH) where they surrounded the optic nerve fibers with a non-myelinated ensheathment. The mean amount of damage to the ONH astrocytic area in rats was 51.0% compared with 85.8% in those without OEC transplants (P< 0.02) and the mean loss of axons in the optic nerve was 51.0% compared with 80.3% in the absence of OECs (P< 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
OECs transplanted into the region of the ONH of the rat can reduce the loss of axons and the damage to ONH astrocytes caused by raised IOP.


CONCLUSIONS
Confirmation of these preliminary experimental data, further understanding of possible mechanisms of axonal protection by OECs, and the longer-term time course of protection could provide a basis for future human clinical trials of autografted OECs, which would be available from autologous nasal epithelial biopsies.
UCL Department of Cell and Developmental Biology; Spinal Repair Unit, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK ; Southwest Hospital, Southwest Eye Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Chao
C
Dai
Peng T
PT
Khaw
Zheng Qin
ZQ
Yin
Daqing
D
Li
Geoffrey
G
Raisman
Ying
Y
Li
lamina cribrosa; olfactory ensheathing cells; optic nerve head; transplantation