BACKGROUND:Studies have shown that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s can play a catalytic role in brain function recovery through a variety of ways. OBJECTIVE:To analyze the CT and MRI features of rats with cerebral infarction undergoing bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel transplantation. METHODS:Forty rats with cerebral infarction were randomized into two groups:model group was treated with 1 mL PBS and transplantation group was injected with 2.0×109/L cel suspension. Modified neurological severity score was detected at 1, 2, 3 weeks after transplantation for neurological function evaluation. CT and MRI scans were performed at 6 hours, 1, 3, 5, 7 days after transplantation to observe the changing features of T1WI, T2WI, FLAIR, DWI sequences in the infracted area as wel as infarction size. Signal intensity ratios (SIR) of T2WI, FLAIR, DWI sequences and relative rates of change (?SIR) were determined and compared with the normal values. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:After transplantation 1, 2 and 3 weeks, the modified neurological severity scores were significantly lower in the transplantation group than the model group (P<0.05). After transplantation 3, 5, 7 days, the infracted size was reduced significantly in the transplantation group compared with the model group (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, SIR value of T1WI sequence was higher, but the SIR values of T2WI and FLAIR sequences were lower in the transplantation (P<0.05). There were significant differences in the?SIR values of T2WI, FLAIR and DWI (P<0.05) rather than T1WI (P>0.05) between the two groups. These findings indicate that MRI can show the brain sections at any angle, and play an important role to assess the therapeutic efficacy of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel transplantation on cerebral infarction.

BACKGROUND:Breviscapine treatment of cerebral infarction has curative effects, few side effects, stable long-term efficacy and few side effects, which can improve the micro-environment of damaged central nervous system after cerebral infarction.
OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effects of breviscapine injection combined with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel transplantation on neurological recovery and growth-associated protein 43 expression in rats after cerebral infarction.
METHODS:Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats undergoing middle cerebral artery occlusion were randomized into cerebral infarction group, cel transplantation group and combined group. At 6 hours after modeling, 1 mL PBS, 1 mL bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel suspension (2.5×106), and 1 mL bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel suspension (2.5×106)+75 mg/kg breviscapine injection were respectively injected via the tail vein in the three groups, once a day, continuously for 5 days.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:At 2 weeks after transplantation, BrdU-positive bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels were mainly gathered in the peri-infarction region, and the number of positive cels was higher in the combined group than the other two groups (P < 0.01). At 1, 2, 3 weeks after transplantation, the neurological deficit scores were significantly lower in the combined group than the other two groups (P < 0.05). At 2 weeks after transplantation, the combined group had smaler infarct size, milder edema, and higher expression of growth-associated protein 43 as compared with the other two groups (P < 0.05). Under light microscope, glial cels proliferated dramaticaly and brain edema significantly reduced in the combined group. These findings indicate that breviscapine injection combined with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel transplantation can significantly reduce infarct size and brain edema, promote neurological recovery and increase the expression of growth-associated protein 43 in rats with cerebral infarction.