Bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) transplantation has been reported as treatments
that promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) in humans and animals.
Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been also reported as treatments that promote functional
recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) in humans and animals. Therefore, administration
of PEG combined with BMSC transplantation may improve outcomes compared with BMSC
transplantation only in SCI model mice. SCI mice were divided into a control-group,
BMSC-group, PEG-group and BMSC+PEG-group. BMSC transplantation and PEG administration were
performed immediately after surgery. Compared to the control-group, PEG- and
BMSC+PEG-groups showed significant locomotor functional recovery 4 weeks after therapy. We
observed no significant differences among the groups. In the BMSC- and BMSC+PEG-groups,
immunohistochemistry showed that many neuronal cells aggressively migrated toward the
glial scar from the region rostral of the lesion site. In the control- and PEG-groups, the
boundary of the injured regions was covered with astrocytes, and a few neuronal cells were
migrated toward the glial scar. We conclude that combined BMSC transplantation with PEG
treatment showed no synergistic effects on locomotor functional recovery or beneficial
cellular events. Further studies may improve the effect of the treatment, including
modification of the timing of BMSC transplantation.
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