Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sheet Promotes Functional Recovery and Palliates Neuropathic Pain in a Subacute Spinal Cord Injury Model

Figure 4

Effect of cell therapy on inflammatory cells. (a–c) Iba1 staining (activated microglia) of the spinal cord 7 weeks after SCI was evaluated on the rostral and caudal sides of the lesion from the epicenter of SCI (a, 1). Iba1 staining is significantly reduced on the rostral side in the cell sheet group (a, 2), compared to the control group (a, 4), while no difference is found compared to the intramedullary (direct) group (a, 3; b). The same trend is seen in the caudal lesion ((a, 5) the cell sheet group, (a, 6) the intramedullary injection group, and (a, 7) the control group; (c)). (d, e) CD68 staining (infiltrated macrophages) of the spinal cord 7 weeks after SCI evaluated on the rostral and caudal sides of the lesion from the epicenter of SCI (d, 1). Iba1 staining is significantly reduced on the rostral side of the cell sheet group (d, 2), compared to the control group (d, 4), while no difference is found compared to the intramedullary (direct) group (d, 3) (e). The cell sheet group also shows significantly fewer CD68-positive cells on the caudal side of the lesion ((d, 5) the cell sheet group, (d, 6) the intramedullary injection group, and (d, 7) control group; f). , . Scale bar represents 50 μm.

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