Study On Treatment Of Spinal Cord Injury By Activated Schwann Cells Combined With Magnesium Sulfate

Objective To observe the role of treatment to spinal cord injury(SCI) by activated schwann cells(ASCs) combined with magnesium sulfate(MgSO₄) in the spinal cord injury site in Wistar rats,and evaluate the effect of this method to the spinal cord injury.Methods Hibateral saphenous nerves were ligated directly,free it and culture ASCs 1 week later using the tissue clot method,The clone was passaged continuously for 4 generations and large number of clones obtained.Then 48 female Wistar rats, weighing(200±30) g,were randomly divided into 4 groups as follows(each group number is 12):DMEM group(groupâ… ),MgSO4 group(groupâ…¡),ASCs group (groupâ…¢),and combined group(groupâ…£),The cells were purified before transplantion to the injuried T10 spinal cord site of ratsMASCIS IMPACTOR MODEL-â…¡type weight drop apparatus).The recoveries of the lower extremity were observed using Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan(BBB) locomotor scoring system.Twelve weeks later,four rats in each group selected at random were injected with 10% biotinylated dextran amine(BDA) in the double cerebra cortex for anterograde labeling of corticospinal tract(CST).After 2 weeks,all rats were killed and poured with 4%polyoxymethylene.The spinal cords including the segment of defect were taken out and cut into 5μm thick sections at 0℃,and immunohistochemistry was used to detect neurofilament protein 200(NF-200) and glial fibrillaryacidic protein (GFAP).Using analysis of variance(ANOVA) for statistical analysis,comparing the group's significant difference.Results All rats were paralytic absolutely after spinal cord injury.The BBB scores were no significant difference among 4 groups in 4 weeks after injury,but scores in the experimental groups were higher than the control group after 4 weeks,the difference was significant(ANOVA,P＜0.05 ).BDA anterograde tracing,NF-200 and GFAP fluorescence immunohistochemistry staining showed that ASCs transplantation group and the combined transplantation group with more nerve fibers through the defect site than DMEM group and MgSO₄ group,while the control group almost no nerve fiber regeneration through,Each group had a significant difference (ANOVA,P＜0.05).Conclusion Treatment of spinal cord injury by activated schwann cells combined with magnesium sulfate can protect nerves against secondary damage after acute SCI in early period,and can promote the recovery of the paralyzed lower extremity after SCI,and the effect of treatment combined was better than single method.