Intra-bladder wall transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells improved urinary bladder dysfunction following spinal cord injury

Hanieh Salehi-Pourmehr; Reza Rahbarghazi; Javad Mahmoudi; Leila Roshangar; Christopher R Chapple; Sakineh Hajebrahimi; Nasrin Abolhasanpour; Mahmoud-Reza Azghani

doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2019.02.011

Intra-bladder wall transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells improved urinary bladder dysfunction following spinal cord injury

Life Sci. 2019 Mar 15:221:20-28. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2019.02.011. Epub 2019 Feb 5.

Authors

Hanieh Salehi-Pourmehr¹, Reza Rahbarghazi², Javad Mahmoudi¹, Leila Roshangar², Christopher R Chapple³, Sakineh Hajebrahimi⁴, Nasrin Abolhasanpour⁵, Mahmoud-Reza Azghani⁶

Affiliations

¹ Neurosciences Research Center (NSRC), Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
² Stem Cell Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
³ Academic Urology Unit, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK.
⁴ Research Center for Evidence Based-Medicine, Health Management and Safety Promotion Research Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: ebrahimis@tbzmed.ac.ir.
⁵ Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Department of Biomechanics, Sahand, Iran.

PMID: 30735734
DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2019.02.011

Abstract

Background: In the most of previous experiments, intrathecal administration of stem cells (SCs) was seen in the management of neurogenic bladder (NGB) following contusion or complete transaction in the rodent model of spinal cord injury (SCI). Here, we aimed to investigate whether intra bladder wall autologous bone marrow mesenchymal SC (BM-MSCs) transplantation, as a minimally invasive method, could improve bladder dysfunctions after a chronic phase of hemi- and complete-transection SCI in a female rat model.

Material and methods: A total of forty-two female Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups (each in 7) and subjected to complete and incomplete spinal cord transection by a laminectomy at the T9 vertebral level. Four weeks after SCI operation, BM-MSCs (1 × 10⁶/120 μl) were transplanted in six areas of the bladder muscle in rats with complete SCI (cSCI) and hemi SCI (hSCI) groups. In the rats from sham, cSCI and hSCI negative control groups, normal saline was injected instead of BM-MSCs. Four weeks post-cell transplantation, rats were subjected to conscious urodynamic for voiding function assessment.

Results: All bladders in cSCI and hSCI groups were the hyperreflexic type. The amplitude of uninhibited contraction in cSCI + BM-MSC group was decreased (p = 0.046). we noted that compliance was recovered in the hSCI + BM-MSCs group (p = 0.041). Residual volume was increased significantly after SCI while cell transplantation decreased this index in both hSCI and cSCI +BM-MSCs groups. The statistically significant result was only seen in the hSCI group (p = 0.046). Data showed that collagen deposition was markedly increased in the SCI group compared to the control or sham groups. These changes were decreased post-treatment in the hSCI group (p = 0.042).

Conclusion: Our study added a notion that urinary dysfunction associated with SCI, was improved following direct injection of autologous BM-MSC transplantation to bladder wall in the chronic phase of SCI injury.

Keywords: Mesenchymal stem cells; Neurogenic urinary bladder; Rats; Spinal cord injuries.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bone Marrow
Bone Marrow Transplantation
Disease Models, Animal
Female
Injections, Spinal / methods
Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / methods*
Mesenchymal Stem Cells / metabolism
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Spinal Cord Injuries / complications
Urinary Bladder / metabolism*
Urinary Bladder Diseases
Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic / metabolism*
Urination
Urodynamics
Urologic Diseases