One-Year Follow-Up After Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Treatment in Middle-Aged Female Rats With Stroke

Abstract

Background and Purpose— We sought to evaluate the long-term effects of bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) treatment on retired breeder rats with stroke. Methods— Female retired breeder rats were subjected to 2-hour middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by an injection of 2×106 male BMSCs (n=8) or phosphate-buffered saline (n=11) into the ipsilateral internal carotid artery at 1 day after stroke. The rats were humanely killed 1 year later. Functional tests, in situ hybridization, and histochemical and immunohistochemical staining were performed. Results— Significant recovery of neurological deficits was found in BMSC-treated rats beginning 2 weeks after cell injection compared with control animals. The beneficial effects of cell transplantation persisted for at least 1 year (P<0.01). In situ hybridization for the Y chromosome showed that donor cells survived in the brains of recipient rats, among which 22.3±1.95% of cells expressed the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein, 16.8±2.13% ex...