Mesenchymal stem cells transplantation attenuates experimentally induced brain injury after neonatal hypoxia by different two routes of administrations

The neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy(HIE)is an important cause of neurological morbidity and mortality in neonates.Cell therapy is considered a promising method for treating severe neurological disorders such as this one.Stem cells have the capacity for self-renewal and differentiation into certain cell lineages.The present study was aimed to find out the most beneficial route of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs)administration for the attenuation of experimentally induced HIE in neonatal rats.Sixty neonatal rats were divided randomly into four groups.Group 1:control group.Group 2:rats were exposed to bilateral ligation of cephalic arteries.Group 3:rats were exposed to bilateral ligation of cephalic arteries and then underwent intravenous(IV)BMSC injection.Group 4:rats were exposed to bilateral ligation of cephalic arteries and then underwent intracerebroventricular(ICV)BMSC injection.The animals were evaluated by(a)neurobehavioral tests;(b)histopathology,i.e.,histological and immuno-histochemical studies;and(3)gene expression studies.The BMSC treated groups(3 and 4)showed improvement in neurobehavioral tests,histopathological studies,and gene expression,as compared to non-injected lesioned rats(Group 2)with better improvement in Group 4(ICV injections)than in Group 3(IV injections).