Combined Treatment of Adipose Derived-Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Pregabalin Is Superior to Monotherapy for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain in 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)

Neuropathic pain following nerve injury does not respond well to most available pharmacological remedies. We aimed to compare the outcome of the addition of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) to pregabalin for neuropathic pain treatment. Adult female albino rats ( n = 100) were randomized to receive traumatic sciatic nerve injury or sham. Animals were then randomized to ADMSC treatment with or without pregabalin. We conducted a battery of neurobehavioral and electrophysiological to assess neuropathic pain. Following sacrifice, we evaluated the histological changes and gene expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the sciatic nerve. Serum and sciatic nerve tissue pro- and inflammatory cytokine levels were also assessed. (1) All treatments significantly improved thermal withdrawal latency, sciatic nerve conduction velocity, and proinflammatory cytokine levels in injured animals, with no significant effect of the combined treatments compared to pregabalin monotherapy ( p < 0.05 each). (2) Combined treatment significantly improved medial gastrocnemius electromyographic amplitude and sciatic function index compared to pregabalin monotherapy ( p < 0.05 each). (3) Combined treatment significantly increased the BDNF expression, decreased anti-inflammatory cytokine ( p < 0.05 each), and restored the structural nerve damage, compared to pregabalin monotherap

Evidence level

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

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.