Study On Treatment Of Spinal Cord Injury By Lithium And Autologus Activated Schwann Cells

【Objective】To observe the effect of transplanting autologusactivated Schwann cells (AASCs) to the spinal cord injury site andinjecting lithium chloride in Wistar rats.【Methods】Saphenous nerves are ligated directly, 1 week later,we select the tissue clot method to culture the Schwann cells respectively.48 moderate degree spinal cord injured rats were classified into 4subgroups, 12 in each group, group A: media was injected into the cordinjury site, group B: AASCs were transplanted into the cord injury site,group C: intraperitoneal injection of lithium chloride every day lasting1 week, group D: AASCs were transplanted into the cord injury site, at meantime the intraperitoneal injection of lithium chloride every day lasting1 week. We checked the BBB scores to evaluate the functional recovery ineach group at 1,2,4,8 weeks after transplantation. We then checked theirSEP&MEP, we finally checked the neural cell differentiation with P75immunofluorescence staining, and we also analyzed the axonal regenerationwith anterograde labelling of brain stem neurons by using Cy3.【Results】BBB score is higher in research group than the controlgroup 4 weeks after injury. 4 weeks after transplantation, the Lithium withAASCs group had significantly improved BBB scores than the other groups(P＜0.001). The coticospinal tract tracer and P75 stain result show thatthere are more axons regenerated in research groups than the blank group.MEP&SEP results show that there are recovery of lower extremity of ratsafter transplantation of AASCs and Lithium. Conclusion: AutologusActivated Schwann cells can survive and keep active after transplantation,that can guide the regeneration of neurofibril and promote the recovery of the paralyzed lower extremity after SCI. Lithium is helpful in therecovery of injured spinal cord. AASCs companied with lithium is betterin recovery of spinal cord injury.