Comparison of Immunopathology and Locomotor Recovery in C57BL/6, BUB/BnJ, and NOD-SCID Mice after Contusion Spinal Cord Injury

Studies of cell transplantation therapeutics in animal models of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) are often hampered by partial or complete rejection of the graft by the host. Pharmacological immunosuppression is rarely sufficient to prevent rejection. Further, the immunological niche created by both the host immune response and immunosuppressant drugs could hypothetically influence the proliferation, differentiation, and fate of transplanted progenitor/stem cells. To avoid these confounds, we have previously used the constitutively immunodeficient non-obese diabetic severe combined immunodeficient (NOD-SCID) mouse as a model for transplantation studies following SCI. In the current study, we compare behavioral and histological recovery in NOD-SCID, C57BL/6, and BUB/BnJ mice of both sexes to better facilitate interpretation of data from studies using NOD-SCID mice. Of the strains examined, NOD-SCID mice exhibited the greatest locomotor recovery in the open field; no sex differences were detected in locomotor recovery in any of the strains. Stereologic estimation of the number of infiltrated neutrophils showed more cells in C57BL/6 mice than NOD-SCID mice, with BUB/BnJ mice having an intermediate number. The volume of macrophages/microglia did not differ between strains or sexes, though more rostral-caudal spreading was observed in C57BL/6 and BUB/BnJ than NOD-SCID mice. No significant differences were detected in lesion volume. Taken together these findings demonstrate that relative to other strains, NOD-SCID mice have both similar primary lesion volume and cellular inflammatory parameters after SCI, and support the applicability of the model for neurotransplantation studies.