The comparative effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and supernatant transplantation on demyelination and inflammation in cuprizone model

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) with inflammation and immune dysfunction.

We compared the remyelination and immunomodulation properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with their conditioned medium (CM) in the cuprizone model.

Twenty-four C57BL/ 6 mice were divided into four groups. After cuprizone demyelination, MSCs and their CM were injected into the right lateral ventricle of mice. The expression level of IL-1β, TNF-α, and BDNF genes was evaluated using the qRT-PCR. APC antibody was used to assess the oligodendrocyte population using the immunofluorescent method. The remyelination and axonal repair were studied by specific staining of the LFB and electron microscopy techniques.

Transplantation of MSCs and CM increased the expression of the BDNF gene and decreased the expression of IL-1β and TNF-α genes compared to the cuprizone group, and these effects in the cell group were more than CM. Furthermore, cell transplantation resulted in a significant improvement in myelination and axonal repair, which was measured by luxol fast blue and transmission electron microscope images. The cell group had a higher number of oligodendrocytes than other groups.

According to the findings, injecting MSCs intraventricularly versus cell-conditioned medium can be a more effective approach to improving chronic demyelination in degenerative diseases like MS.