Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation Time-Dependently Abolishes Efficacy of Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor After Stroke in Hypertensive Rats

Background and Purpose—We aimed to determine a possible synergistic effect of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and bone marrow–derived mononuclear cells (BM MNC) after stroke in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Methods—Male spontaneously hypertensive rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion and randomly assigned to daily injection of 50 μg/kg G-CSF for 5 days starting 1 hour after stroke (groups 1, 2, and 3) with additional intravenous transplantation of 1.5×10E7 BM MNC per kilogram at 6 hours (group 2) or 48 hours (group 3) after stroke, or control treatment (group 4). Circulating leukocyte counts and functional deficits, infarct volume, and brain edema were repeatedly assessed in the first week and first month. Results—G-CSF treatment led to a significant neutrophilia, to a reversal of postischemic depression of circulating leukocytes, and to a significantly improved functional recovery without affecting the infarct volume or brain edema. BM MNC cotransplantation was neutral ...