Erythropoietin facilitates the recruitment of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to sites of spinal cord injury

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)

Despite the successes of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) transplantation for the treatment of spinal cord injuries, only a small fraction of grafted cells migrate to the target areas. Therefore, there remains a need for more efficient strategies of BMSC delivery. The present study was designed to explore this. Rat models of spinal cord injury (SCI) were established and exposed to phosphate buffered saline (control), BMSCs or BMSCs + erythropoietin (EPO). Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor scale and grid walk tests were then utilized to estimate neurological rehabilitation. Additionally, the following assays were performed: Immunofluorescence localization of BMSCs to the site of SCI; the transwell migration assay to detect in vitro cellular migration; the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay to determine the apoptotic index of the lesion; and western blotting analysis to evaluate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) at the site of SCI. The BBB scores of the BMSC + EPO treated group were significantly increased compared with the BMSC treatment group (P<0.05). For example, BMSC + EPO treated rats had a significantly decreased number of hind limb slips compared with the BMSC treatment group (P<0.05). Furthermore, EPO significantly increased the migration capacity of

Evidence level

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

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