Experimental animal study. This study aimed to assess effects of conditioned medium (CM) of dental pulp-derived stem cells loaded in collagen hydrogel on functional recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI). SCI affects sensory and motor functions, and behavioral recovery is the most essential purpose of therapeutic intervention. Recent studies have reported that CM from dental pulp-derived stem cells has therapeutic benefits. In addition, collagen hydrogel acts as a drug delivery system in SCI experiments. Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHEDs) were cultured, and SHED-CM was harvested and concentrated. Collagen hydrogel containing SHED-CM was prepared. The rats were divided into five groups receiving laminectomy, compressive SCI with or without intraspinal injection of biomaterials (SHED-CM), and collagen hydrogel with or without SHED-CM. Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scoring, inclined plane, cold allodynia, and beam walk tests were performed for 6 weeks to assess locomotor, motor, sensory, and sensory-motor performances, respectively. Scores of the rats receiving SHED-CM loaded in collagen hydrogel were significantly better than those of the other injured groups at 1-week post-injury for BBB, 2 weeks for inclined plane, 2 weeks for cold allodynia, and 4 weeks for beam walk tests (p <0.05). The differences remained significant throughout the study. Intraspinal administration of SHED-CM loaded in collagen hydrogel leads to improved functional recovery and proposes a cell-free therapeutic approach for SCI.

Noorafshan A, et al. Exp Neurobiol. 2013 Mar;22(1):23-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.5607/en.2013.22.1.23

Noorafshan A, et al. Exp Neurobiol. 2013 Jun;22(2):96-106. http://dx.doi.org/10.5607/en.2013.22.2.96

Chronic stress induces morphological changes in the neurons of several brain regions, including medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). This region is involved in variety of behavioral tasks, including learning and memory. Our previous work showed that stress impaired function. The present work extends the earlier work to study mPFC in stressed and non-stressed rats with or without sertraline or curcumin treatments using stereological methods. Sertraline is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and curcumin is the main ingredient of turmeric with neuroprotective effects. In this study, 42 male rats were randomly assigned to seven groups: stress + distilled water, stress + olive oil, stress + curcumin (100 mg per kg per day), stress + sertraline (10 mg per kg per day), curcumin, sertraline, and control groups. After 56 days, the right mPFC was removed. The volume of mPFC and its subdivisions and the total number of neurons and glia were estimated. The results showed approx. 8 percent, approx. 8 percent, and 24 percent decrease in the volume of the mPFC and its prelimbic and infralimbic subdivisions, respectively. However, the anterior cingulated cortex remained unchanged. Also, the total number of the neurons and glial cells was significantly reduced (11 percent and 5 percent, respectively) in stress (+distilled water or olive oil) group in comparison to the non-stressed rats (P is less than 0.01). However, no significant reduction was observed in the volume of the mPFC and its subdivisions as well as the total number of the neurons and glial cells in stress + sertraline and stress + curcumin groups in comparison to the non-treated stressed rats (P is less than 0.01). The result indicated that treatment of rats with curcumin and sertraline could prevent the stress-induced changes in mPFC.

Stress induces structural and behavioral impairments. The changes in dendrites and neurons are accompanied by impairments in the tasks mediated by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The present study was conducted to evaluate the structural changes of the dendrites and neurons of the mPFC...