Functional recovery of chronic paraplegic pigs after autologous transplantation of bone marrow stromal cells.

Background: Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) transplantation offers promise in the treatment of chronic paraplegia in rodents. Here, we report the effect of this cell therapy in adult pigs suffering chronic paraplegia.

Methods: Three months after spinal cord injury, autologous BMSC in autologous plasma was injected into lesion zone and adjacent subarachnoid space in seven paraplegic pigs.

Neurotrophic Schwann-cell factors induce neural differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells.

Neural transdifferentiation of bone marrow stromal cells has been questioned, because cell fusion could explain the development of new cell types, misinterpreted as transdifferentiated cells. We performed here cocultures of bone marrow stromal cells and Schwann cells, without possibility that both cell types can establish contact. In these conditions, bone marrow stromal cells expressed nestin 4 h after beginning cocultures, and strong expression of neuronal markers was disclosed at 72 h, increasing at 1 and 2 weeks.

Cell therapy using bone marrow stromal cells in chronic paraplegic rats: systemic or local administration?

Recent studies showed the therapeutic effect of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) after spinal cord injury (SCI). In the present study, we compared the effect of systemic and local administration of BMSC in adult Wistar rats suffering chronic paraplegia as consequence of severe SCI. Adult Wistar rats were subjected to a weight-drop impact causing complete paraplegia, and 3 months later, all the animals remained without signs of functional recovery.

Schwann cells induce neuronal differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells.

Bone marrow stromal cells are multipotent stem cells that have the potential to differentiate into bone, cartilage, fat and muscle. Recently, bone marrow stromal cells have been shown to have the capacity to differentiate into neurons under specific experimental conditions, using chemical factors. We now describe how bone marrow stromal cells can be induced to differentiate into neuron-like cells when they are co-cultured with Schwann cells.

Effects of dexamethasone on apoptosis-related cell death after spinal cord injury.

Object: The purpose of this study was to analyze the expression of F7-26 (Apostain) in injured spinal cord tissue, and the modifying effects of dexamethasone administration.

Methods: A total of 56 adult female Wistar rats were subjected to traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) to induce complete paraplegia. These rats were divided into two groups according to whether they received dexamethasone (doses of 1 mg/kg daily) post-SCI.