Intravenous injection of adult human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells attenuates spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury in a murine aortic arch crossclamping model

We sought to investigate the efficacy of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hBM-MSCs) in a murine spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion (SCIR) model. C57BL/6J mice were subjected to SCIR by cross-clamping the aortic arch and left subclavian artery for 5.5 minutes. Two hours after reperfusion, hBM-MSCs (hBM-MSC group) or phosphate-buffered saline (control group) were intravenously injected without immunosuppressant. Hindlimb motor function was assessed until day 28 after reperfusion using the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS). BMS score was 0 throughout the study period in all control mice. BMS score was significantly greater in the hBM-MSC group than the control group from hour 8 (P < .05) to day 28 (P < .01). The numbers of motor neurons at hour 24 (P < .01) and day 28 (P < .05) were significantly preserved in the hBM-MSC group than the control group. hBM-MSC therapy might contribute to recovery from paraplegia after aortic aneurysm surgery/intervention in clinical situation.