Tianjin Eye Hospital, Tianjin Key Lab of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Tianjin Eye Institute, Clinical College of Ophthalmology Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300020, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 24;7(1):408. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-00298-2.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of intravitreal injection of neural stem cells (NSCs) originating from human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) on neurodegeneration of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in rats. UC-MSCs were isolated and passaged, followed by induction to NSCs in neural differentiation medium. Four weeks following NSC transplantation, treatment attenuated retinal vascular dysfunction compared with non-treated rats, and BDNF and Thy-1 expression was significantly higher in the treated group than in the control group. Treatment of diabetic rats with NSCs prevented the decrease in BDNF levels caused by diabetes. The average leakage of Evans Blue (EB) dye in the treated group was significantly less than that in the control group. These morphological improvements were accompanied by a restoration of vision, as documented by F-ERG. NSCs originating from MSCs demonstrated a neuroprotective effect by increasing the number of surviving RGCs and significantly reducing the progression of DR. Thus, transplantation of NSCs could be a novel strategy for the treatment of neurodegeneration in DR.
本研究旨在评估源自人脐带间充质干细胞（UC-MSCs）的神经干细胞（NSCs）对糖尿病视网膜病变（DR）神经退行性变的影响。分离和传代 UC-MSCs，然后在神经分化培养基中诱导为 NSCs。NSCs 移植 4 周后，与未治疗的大鼠相比，治疗组的视网膜血管功能障碍得到改善，且 BDNF 和 Thy-1 的表达明显高于对照组。NSCs 治疗糖尿病大鼠可防止糖尿病引起的 BDNF 水平下降。与对照组相比，治疗组中 Evans Blue（EB）染料的平均渗漏明显减少。这些形态学改善伴随着视力的恢复，这一点在 F-ERG 中有记录。源自 MSCs 的 NSCs 通过增加存活的 RGC 数量和显著减缓 DR 的进展，表现出神经保护作用。因此，NSCs 的移植可能是治疗 DR 神经退行性变的一种新策略。
