Therapeutic benefit of intravenous administration of human umbilical cord blood- mononuclear cells following intracerebral hemorrhage in rat.

Objective: Human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) is now considered as a valuable source for stem cell-based therapies. Previous studies showed that intravascular injection of the HUCB significantly improves neurological functional recovery in a rat model of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). In the present study, we hypothesize transplanted HUCB derived mononuclear cells (UC-MCs) can decrease injured volume and also ameliorate neurological function in ICH rats.

Methods: Experimental ICH was induced by intrastriatal administration of collagenase in rats. One day after surgery, the rats were divided into 3 groups to receive intravenously either BrdU positive human UC-MCs [(4×10(6) and 8×10(6) cells in 1 ml saline, n=10 respectively) as treated groups] or the same amount of saline [as lesion group (n=10)]. There was also one group (control) that received only vehicle solution of collagenase. The animals were evaluated for 14 days with behavioral tests. Transplanted UC-MCs were detected by immunohistochemistry. Histological data and scores of functional tests were analyzed using ANOVA. Cellular co-localization of BrdU+ cells in the histological slides was determined by software Image J.

Results: Intravenously transplanted UC-MCs migrated selectively to the hematomal area and reduce injured volume. The UC-MCs transplanted groups showed better performance on functional tests after 2 weeks compared with the lesion and control groups (P< 0.05). There was no difference in the functional recovery and injured volume improvement between the 2 treated groups.

Conclusions: Intravenously transplanted UC-MCs accelerate neurological function recovery of ICH rat and diminish the striatum lesion size. Thus these cells may provide a potential cell candidate for cell-based therapy in ICH.