Cerebral white matter remodelling in rats with severe acute carbon monoxide poisoning after transplantation of neural stem-like cells derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Objective To investigate changes in cerebral white matter after transplantation of neural stem like cells (MS-NSCs) derived from the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, in rats with severe acute carbon monoxide poisoning. Method Forty Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200 ～ 250 g were divided randomly into 4 groups: the normal control group, the poisoned control group, the BMSCs transplanted group and the MS-NSCs transplanted group (each group 6 rats). BMSCs were harvested from whole bone marrow in vitro, and then differentiated into MS-NSCs under the cock tail of certain growth factors, followed by BrdU labelling. The seed cells were infused into the brain via the left internal carotid artery 24 hours post poisoning. Remodelling of cerebral white matter was assessed using H & E staining, myelin staining and immunohistochemitry assay after 5 weeks later. Results Cellular transplantation improved the compactness and orderliness of cerebral white matter. BrdU-positive cells were found in the focal insulted areas of sparse white matter; and greater numbers of Brdu-Positive ceus were observed in the MS-NSCs group thar in the BMSCs group (P ＜0.05). Conclusions MS-NSCs participates in the remodeling of cerebral white matter in rats with severe acute carbon monoxide poisoning, and shows promising evidence as seed cells transplanted for brain tissue regeneration. Key words: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells;  Neural stem-like cells;  Differentiation;  Cell transplantation;  Poisoning;  Carbon monoxide