A cellular spinal cord scaffold seeded with rat adipose‑derived stem cells facilitates functional recovery via enhancing axon regeneration in spinal cord injured rats.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Spinal cord injury (SCI), usually resulting in severe sensory and motor deficits, is a major public health concern. Adipose‑derived stem cells (ADSCs), one type of adult stem cell, are free from ethical restriction, easily isolated and enriched. Therefore, ADSCs may provide a feasible cell source for cell‑based therapies in treatment of SCI. The present study successfully isolated rat ADSCs (rADSCs) from Sprague‑Dawley male rats and co‑cultured them with acellular spinal cord scaffolds (ASCs). Then, a rat spinal cord hemisection model was built and rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: SCI only, ASC only, and ASC + ADSCs. Furthermore, behavioral tests were conducted to evaluate functional recovery. Hematoxylin & Eosin staining and immunofluorence were carried out to assess histopathological remodeling. In addition, biotinylated dextran amines anterograde tracing was employed to visualize axon regeneration. The data demonstrated that harvested cells, which were positive for cell surface antigen cluster of differentiation (CD) 29, CD44 and CD90 and negative for CD4, detected by flow cytometry analysis, held the potential to differentiate into osteocytes and adipocytes. Rats that received transplantation of ASCs seeded with rADSCs benefited greatly in functional recovery through facilitation of histopathological rehabilitation, axon regeneration and reduction of reactive glios

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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