Objective: To explore the effect of spinal neural progenitor transplantation to the cervical spinal on The brachial plexus treating brachial plexus injury with the reimplantation of the avulsed spinal roots.
Methods: avulsed injury model was made on 54 rats and they were evenly divided into 3 groups: fresh group, chronic group, control group. The spinal neural progenitor was cultured and identified. Then 10 microl (1 x 10(5)/microl) cells were labelled with BrdU and transplanted into the fresh group (15 rats survived, being model for 1 week) and the chronic group (14 rats survived, being model for 2 months). No cell was transplanted into the control group. Two months after the transplantation, the recovery of function of the injured limb was evaluated. Electrophysiologic study and immunohistochemical study of the injured limb were made.
Results: Spinal neural progenitors were isolated from the spine and became neural sphere. The neural spheres were differentiated into neurons and astrocytes. Fourteen rats out of 15 in the fresh group were recovered, 7 rats out of 14 in the chronic group were recovered, and 5 rats out of 12 in the control group were recovered. Immunohistochemical study indicated that the transplanted progenitors in fresh group survived and differentiated into the neural cells, and the transplanted progenitors in chronic group existed and did not differentiate well.
Conclusion: Transplanted spinal neural progenitors can promote the recovery of the brachial plexus injury with the reimplantation of the avulsed spinal root.