Transplantation of olfactory bulb ensheathing glia after spinal cord injury: Experimental study in rats

Aim. To evaluate the long-term effect of the transplantation of olfactory bulb ensheathing glia (EG) after spinal cord injury. Materials and methods. Dorsal laminectomy of T8 was performed in 16 adult Sprague-Dawley rats, exposing the underlying spinal cord, which was bathed with Bengala pink for 10 minutes before producing a lesion by fiberoptic focusing of light from a halogen lamp for 2.5 minutes. Half of the animals were injected 180,000 ensheathing glia (EG) in 10 μl of medium (EG group) and half were injected only 10 μl of DMEM (Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium) (DM group). Animals were sacrificed 90 days after injury and the area of spinal cord conserved, locomotor recovery, and nociceptive sensitivity were evaluated. Results. The animals in the EG group showed better locomotion and quicker paw retraction in response to a nociceptive stimulus than the animals in the DM group. More of the spinal parenchyma was preserved and there were more positive p75 cells in the EG group than in the DM group. Conclusions. EG transplantation favored the preservation of spinal parenchyma and prevented the loss of motor and sensorial functions in the rat.