Tissue Eng Regen Med.  2020 Dec;17(6):887-900. 10.1007/s13770-020-00288-y.

Comparative Study on Bone Marrow-Versus Adipose-Derived Stem Cells on Regeneration and Re-Innervation of Skeletal Muscle Injury in Wistar Rats

• Moussa MH
• Hamam GG
• Abd Elaziz AE
• Rahoma MA
• Abd El Samad AA
• El-Waseef DAA
• Hegazy MA

• KMID: 2509432
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-020-00288-y

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Skeletal muscle injuries are frequent clinical challenges due to associated fibrosis and disability. Regenerative medicine is an emerging promising strategy for such cases. The aim of this study was to compare between the effects of bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) versus adipose tissue stromal cells (ADSCs) on regeneration and re-innervation of skeletal muscle laceration injury in Wistar rats at different time intervals.
METHODS
Six young male rats were used as a source of allogenic MSCs. Eighty-four adult female rats were divided into: Group I (control), Group II (Untreated Laceration): right gluteal muscle was lacerated and left for spontaneous healing, Group III (BM-MSCs): right gluteal muscle was lacerated with concomitant local intramuscular injection of 1 x 10⁶ BM-MSCs in the lacerated muscle, Group IV (ADSCs): right gluteal muscle was lacerated with concomitant local intramuscular injection of 1 x 10⁶ ADSCs in lacerated muscle. Rats were sacrificed after one, two and eight weeks. Muscles were processed to prepare sections stained with H&E, Mallory’s trichrome and immune-histochemical staining (neurofilament light chain).
RESULTS
A significant increase in collagen fibers and failure of re-innervation were noticed in untreated laceration group. BM-MSCs-treated groups showed regeneration of muscle fibers but with increased collagen fibers. Meanwhile, ADSCs showed better regenerative effects evidenced by significant increase in the number of myotubes and significant decrease in collagen deposition. Re-innervation was noticed in MSCs-injected muscles after 8 weeks of laceration.
CONCLUSION
Both BM-MSCs and ADSCs improved regeneration of skeletal muscle laceration injury at short- and long-term durations. However, fibrosis was less in ADSCs-treated rats. Effective re-innervation of injured muscles occurred only at the long-term duration.

Keyword

Muscle laceration; Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells; Adipose tissue-derived stem cells; Reinnervation; Neurofilament light chain