Impacts of bone marrow stem cells on caspase-3 levels after spinal cord injury in mice

Spinal cord injury (sci) is a drastic disability that leads to spinal cord impairment. this study sought to determine the effects of bone marrow stem cells (bmscs) on caspase-3 levels after acute sci in mice. forty-two mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: control (2 subcategories),subjected to no intervention; sham (3 subcategories),subjected to acute sci; and experimental (2 subcategories),subjected to sci and cell transplantation. in the experimental group,2×105 bmscs were injected intravenously 1 day after sci. the mesenchymal property of the cells was assessed. the animals in the 3 groups were sacrificed 1,21,and 35 days after the induction of injury and caspase-3 levels were evaluated using a caspase-3 assay kit. the obtained values were analyzed with anova and tukey tests using graphpad and spss. based on the assessments,the transplanted cells were spindle-shaped and were negative for the hematopoietic markers of cd34 and cd45 and positive for the expression of the mesenchymal marker of cd90 and osteogenic induction. the caspase-3 levels showed a significant increase in the sham and experimental groups in comparison to the control group. one day after sci,the caspase-3 level was significantly higher in the sham group (1.157±0.117) than in the other groups (p<0.000). twenty-one days after sci,the caspase-3 level was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the sham group (0.4±0.095 vs. 0.793±0.076; p˂0.000). thirty-five days following sci,the caspase-3 level was lower in the experimental group than in the sham group (0.223±0.027 vs. 0.643±0.058; p˂0.000). we conclude that bmsc transplantation was able to downregulate the caspase-3 level after acute sci,underscoring the role of caspase-3 as a marker for the assessment of treatment efficacy in acute sci. © 2017,shiraz university of medical sciences. all rights reserved.