Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine

Statement of the Problem: Pathological processes developing after spinal cord injuries are associated with a functional mature neurons death and severe defects of motor, sensory, respiratory and digestive functions. The most important task of modern biomedicine is to find new treatment strategies for such patients. Promising direction in this area is the cell therapy. The olfactory ensheathing cells and neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPC) from olfactory mucosa are considered optimal. However, the use of a combination of these cells in the treatment of spinal cord injuries has not been studied. Thus, the aim of this work was to study the efficiency of olfactory mucosa cell combination in the treatment of the spinal cord injuries.

 

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: We have obtained purify cultures of human olfactory ensheathing cells and NSPC. Cyst formation was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 4 weeks after spinal cord injury. The cell combination was transplanted into the cyst area in 10 μl of DMEM/F12 medium (n=7). The control group was injected with the same amount of medium without cells (n=7). Assessment of motor function recovery was performed within 3 weeks after transplantation using the BBB test. Findings: The optimal cell combination consisted of 0.75 million of olfactory ensheathing cells and 0.2 million of NSPC. We have demonstrated the efficiency of this cell combination to improve mobility of the rat hind limbs.

 

Conclusion & Significance: In this and previous studies, we have shown that olfactory mucosa cell transplantation improves mobility of the hind limbs of rats. Further research in this area will help to develop a combined use of cell therapy with surgical and therapeutic strategies for the treatment of patients with spinal cord injuries. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant No. 17-15-01133).