Associated functional motor recovery induced by Intracerebroventricular (ICV) microinjection of Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells following brain ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat: Decreased dark neurons and Bax gene expression in the cerebral cortex

Abstract

Objectives: Stroke is a situation caused activation of some events leading to neuronal damage and death. The proteins of Bcl-2-family are important in regulation of cell death and life. Bax, as a Bcl-2-interacting protein, is a member of this family which promotes apoptosis and cell death. Some therapeutic approaches have been introduced for the treatment of ischemic brain injury. Neuroprotection is one of the approaches for diminishing neurological deficits. We investigated the effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) on the cortex of the brain in ischemic rats.

Methods: In this study, we occlude the middle cerebral artery (MCA) for induction of ischemic stroke in the brain. Rats were classified in four groups of Co, Sh, MCAo and MCAo + WJ-MSCs. Single dose of intraventricular microinjection of WJ-MSCs was injected by a Hamilton syringe. For detecting behavioral outcomes in the rats, Neurological examination was carried out. After 21 days, the animals were sacrificed and their brain tissues were removed for histopathological and molecular analysis.

Results: ICV microinjection of WJ-MSCs significantly prevented apoptosis and cell death compared with MCAo group. A significant reduction in the level of Bax gene expression was observed in the MCAo + WJ-MSCs as group compared with Co, Sh and MCAo groups (P < 0.05). H&E staining showed considerable reduction of dark neurons in MCAo + WJ-MSCs group rather than Co, Sh and MCAo groups (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that ICV microinjection of WJ-MSCs had neuroprotective effects on the brain cortex of ischemic rats by reduction of the Bax gene expression level and the number of dark neurons.