Stem-Like Cells from Blood Restore Function After Stroke

A study has shown that rats with severe strokes recovered function following the intravenous injection of stem-like cells obtained from circulating human blood, suggesting another potential cell therapy for stroke. The findings were reported in the July 7, 2003, issue of Cell Transplantation.

Human blood donors were injected with granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) to stimulate the release of stem-like cells from their bone marrow into the bloodstream before a sample was collected. These peripheral blood progenitor cells have become an alternative treatment to bone marrow transplants for patients with blood cancers. They are easier to obtain, lead to faster recovery from chemotherapy, and result in longer survival. In the study, researchers compared the effect of G-CSF stimulated peripheral blood cells with human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells in a rat model for severe stroke. An earlier study had shown that injections of HUCB cells helped rats recover from strokes faster.

The researchers looked at three groups of rats. One group was intravenously injected with G-CSF stimulated perhipheral blood cells 24 hours after a stroke. The cells were obtained by leukapheresis and the sample included a large number of undifferentiated cells with the capacity to become any cell in the body. A second group was injected with HUCB cells 24 hours after a stroke, and the third group received no treatment. The results showed that both the G-SCF stimulated peripheral blood cells and the HUCB cells prevented the rats from developing stroke-associated motor asymmetry.

"We were putting these cells into animals 24 hours after a stroke and seeing significant behavioral improvement. The animals behaved almost normally on our tests, just as they had before the stroke. That's pretty amazing,” said first author Alison Willing, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of South Florida (Tampa, USA).




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