Co-Transplantation of Human Neurotrophic Factor Secreting Cells and Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in Rat Model of Multiple Sclerosis

OBJECTIVE: The presence of neurotrophic factors is critical for regeneration of neural lesions. Here, we transplanted combination of neurotrophic factor secreting cells (NTF-SCs) and human adipose derived stem cells (hADSCs) into a lysolecithin model of multiple sclerosis (MS) and determined the myelinization efficiency of these cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, 50 adult rats were randomly divided into five groups: control, lysolecithin, vehicle, hADSCs transplantation and NTF-SCs/ hADSCs co-transplantation group. Focal demyelization was induced by lysolecithin injection into the spinal cord. In order to assess motor functions, all rats were scored weekly with a standard experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis scoring scale before and after cell transplantation. Four weeks after cell transplantation, the extent of demyelination and remyelination were examined with Luxol Fast Blue (LFB) staining. Also, immunofluorescence method was used for evaluation of oligodendrocyte differentiation markers including; myelin basic protein (MBP) and Olig2 in the lesion area. RESULTS: Histological study show somewhat remyelinzation in cell transplantation groups related to others. In addition, the immunofluorescence results indicated that the MBP and Olig2 positive labeled cells were significantly higher in co-cell transplantation group than hADSCs group (P<0.05). Also, outcome of motor functional test showed significant improvement function in cell transplantation groups, as compared to the others (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that the remyelinization process in co-cell transplantation group was better than other groups. Thus, NTF-SCs/ hADSCs transplantation can be proper candidate for cell based therapy in neurodegenerative diseases, such as MS.