Neuroscience Research Unit, Puerta de Hierro Hospital, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2012 May;72(5):1203-12; discussion 1211-2. doi: 10.1097/TA.0b013e318248bdcf.
Patients who survive traumatic brain injury (TBI) can undergo serious sensorial and motor function deficits. Once damage occurs, there is no effective treatment to bring patients to full recovery. Recent studies, however, show bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) as a potential therapy for TBI.
This study was designed to determine whether the degree of neurologic deficits influences the efficacy of cell therapy using intracerebral transplantation of BMSC in an experimental model of chronically established TBI. Adult Wistar rats were subjected to weight-drop impact causing TBI. Two months later, the animals were classified according to levels of neurologic deficits. To achieve this, we used two different functional tests: the modified Neurologic Severity Score test and internal zone Permanence Time in Video-Tracking-Box analysis. Saline only or saline containing BMSC was injected into injured brain tissue of the animals that were classified having moderate or severe neurologic damage depending on the level of established functional deficits. All experimental groups were evaluated in the course of the following 2 months to study the efficacy of BMSC administration. The animals were then killed and their brains were studied.
Our results showed that significant functional improvement was seen when BMSC was injected into animals with moderate brain damage, but no significant improvement was found in animals with severe functional deficits when compared with controls.
These findings suggest that the severity of neurologic damage may determine the potential effect of cell therapy when applied to chronically established TBI.
创伤性脑损伤（TBI）幸存者可能会出现严重的感觉和运动功能缺陷。一旦发生损伤，就没有有效的治疗方法可以使患者完全康复。然而，最近的研究表明骨髓基质细胞（BMSC）是 TBI 的一种潜在治疗方法。
本研究旨在确定神经功能缺损的程度是否会影响脑内移植 BMSC 治疗慢性 TBI 实验模型的疗效。成年 Wistar 大鼠接受重物坠落撞击导致 TBI。两个月后，根据神经功能缺损程度对动物进行分类。为此，我们使用了两种不同的功能测试：改良的神经严重程度评分测试和视频跟踪箱分析中的内部区域持续时间。根据既定功能缺陷的程度，将仅生理盐水或含有 BMSC 的生理盐水注入有中度或重度神经损伤的动物受伤脑组织中。所有实验组在接下来的 2 个月内进行评估，以研究 BMSC 给药的疗效。然后处死动物并研究其大脑。
我们的结果表明，当 BMSC 注入中度脑损伤的动物时，会出现明显的功能改善，但与对照组相比，严重功能缺陷的动物没有发现明显的改善。
这些发现表明，神经损伤的严重程度可能决定细胞治疗在慢性 TBI 中的潜在效果。
