Human mesenchymal stem cells therapy improves cognitive function in a sporadic Alzheimer rat model

ZAPPA VILLAR M.F.; GARCÍA M.; MOREL G.; TRÍPODI L.; CRESPO R.; REGGIANI P.C.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 2nd Federation of Latin American and Caribbean Neuroscience Societies (FALAN) Congress; 2016

Alzheimer disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, is characterized by the degeneration of neurons and reduced brain glucose metabolism, as well as by the progressive decline of cognitive function. In this context, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy emerges as a promising therapeutic approach. We explored the therapeutic effect of intravenous administration of Human umbilical cord perivascular cells (HUCPVC) on cognitive performance and biochemical parameters (lipid analyses) in a rat model of sporadic AD with the intracerebroventricular injection of streptozotocin (STZ-icv).Young male rats were divided into 3 experimental groups (N=7-8/group): Intact, STZ and STZ+MSC. STZ and STZ+MSC received 3 mg/kg STZ-icv and, 24 days after, STZ+MSC received 4 times (every 18 days) HUCPVC (1x106 cells in 1 ml) in a tail vein. During the last 2 weeks until the end of the study we performed different tests to estimate memory, depression-like and anxiety-like behaviors, and the STZ showed cognitive deficit in all of them (P<=0.01 vs. Intact). STZ+MSC markedly increased exploratory frequency (P<=0.01 vs.STZ) in the Open Field test and they showed an improvement in their hippocampus-dependent learning and spatial memory performance (less errors P<=0.05 vs. STZ) in Barnes Maze test. Anxiety-like behavior in the Marble Burying test was also attenuated by exposure to MSC (P<0.05 vs. STZ). We concluded that MSC therapy is a suitable biological tool for the treatment of cognitive deficits in this AD model.