Improvement of contusive spinal cord injury in rats by co-transplantation of gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic cells and bone marrow stromal cells

Background aims. Cell therapy is considered a promising option for treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). The purpose of this study is to use combined therapy of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and BMSC-derived gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic inhibitory neurotransmitter cells (BDGCs) for the contusion model of SCI in rats. Methods. BDGCs were prepared from BMSCs by pre-inducing them with beta-mercaptoethanol followed by retinoic acid and then inducing them by creatine. They were immunostained with BMSC, proneuronal, neural and GABA markers. The BDGCs were intraspinally transplanted into the contused rats, whereas the BMSCs were delivered intravenously. The animals were sacrificed after 12 weeks. Results. The Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan test showed improvement in the animals with the combined therapy compared with the untreated animals, the animals treated with GABAergic cells only and the animals that received BMSCs. The immunohistochemistry analysis of the tissue sections prepared from the animals receiving the combined therapy showed that the transplanted cells were engrafted and integrated into the injured spinal cord; in addition, a significant reduction was seen in the cavitation. Conclusions. The study shows that the combination of GABAergic cells with BMSCs can improve SCI.