title: Mesenchymal stem cell therapy for the streptozotocin-induced neurodegeneration in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are one of the sources of adult stem cells being explored for potential use in repairing neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the useful effects of BM-MSCs therapy on the streptozotocin-induced neurodegeneration in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adult female Wistar rats were bilaterally injected intra-cerebroventricularly with streptozotocin (3 mg/kg) for neurodegeneration. Water maze tests were used to monitor spatial learning and memory. One or two intravenous injections of BM-MSCs were administrated to rat via the tail veins. At the end of the study, all rats were sacrificed for histological evaluation and immunohistochemistry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Streptozotocin group demonstrated a significant increase in escape latency in comparison with both control groups (Sham and Saline), whereas rats treated with BM-MSCs exhibited a decrease in escape latency in comparison with streptozotocin group. The percentage of time spent in the target quadrant and the mean number of platform crossings did not change in all the groups. BM-MSCs administration improved spatial learning but not memory. However, improvement in neuronal cells in hippocampal CA1 region was only observed in the rats treated with BM-MSCs twice as opposed to the rats treated with BM-MSCs once or with saline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, mesenchymal stem cells therapy failed to improve the streptozotocin-induced neurodegeneration like Alzheimer's disease in rats.
authors.affiliation: a Center for Aging Brain and Dementia, Department of Geriatric Medicine, School of Medicine , Dokuz Eylul University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet Turan
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Isik
authors.affiliation: b Faculty of Pharmacy , Yeditepe University , Istanbul , Turkey.
authors.forename: Turgay
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.affiliation: c Department of Hematology , Gulhane School of Medicine , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali Ugur
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Ural
authors.affiliation: d Faculty of Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology , Afyon Kocatepe University , Afyonkarahisar , Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tosun
authors.affiliation: e Department of Clinical Pharmacology , Gulhane School of Medicine , Ankara , Turkey.
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ulusoy
authors.affiliation: f Faculty of Medical Science, Department of Biological Science , Bezmialem Vakif University , Istanbul , Turkey.
authors.forename: Birsen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Elibol
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000633:toxicity*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D018782:Maze Learning; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013311:Streptozocin / Q000633:toxicity*; D013997:Time Factors; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D013311:Streptozocin
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Experimental model; Mesenchymal stem cell; Neurodegeneration