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Antiepileptic and neuroprotective effects of human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells in a pilocarpine-induced epilepsy model

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Abstract

Status epilepticus (SE) is a condition of persistent seizure that leads to brain damage and, frequently, to the establishment of chronic epilepsy. Cord blood is an important source of adult stem cells for the treatment of neurological disorders. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (HUCBC) transplanted into rats after induction of SE by the administration of lithium and pilocarpine chloride. Transplantation of HUCBC into epileptic rats protected against neuronal loss in the hippocampal subfields CA1, CA3 and in the hilus of the dentate gyrus, up to 300 days after SE induction. Moreover, transplanted rats had reduced frequency and duration of spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) 15, 120 and 300 days after the SE. Our study shows that HUCBC provide prominent antiepileptic and neuroprotective effects in the experimental model of epilepsy and reinforces that early interventions can protect the brain against the establishment of epilepsy.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB) and Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP). The authors would like to thank Geraldo Pedral for assistance with flow cytometry analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biotecnologia e Terapia Celular, Hospital São Rafael, Av. S Rafael, Salvador, BA, 2152-41253-190, Brazil

    Zaquer Suzana Munhoz Costa-Ferro, Bruno Solano de Freitas Souza, Milena Botelho Pereira Soares & Ricardo Ribeiro dos Santos

  2. Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador, BA, Brazil

    Fernanda de Borba Cunha, Bruno Solano de Freitas Souza, Marcos Maurício Tosta Leal & Milena Botelho Pereira Soares

  3. Hemocentro São Lucas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Adelson Alves da Silva & Eliseo Joji Sekiya

  4. CordCell, Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Center, São Paulo, Brazil

    Telma Ingrid Borges de Bellis Kühn & Andresa Forte

Authors
  1. Zaquer Suzana Munhoz Costa-Ferro
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  2. Fernanda de Borba Cunha
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  3. Bruno Solano de Freitas Souza
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  4. Marcos Maurício Tosta Leal
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  5. Adelson Alves da Silva
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  6. Telma Ingrid Borges de Bellis Kühn
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  7. Andresa Forte
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  8. Eliseo Joji Sekiya
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  9. Milena Botelho Pereira Soares
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  10. Ricardo Ribeiro dos Santos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ricardo Ribeiro dos Santos.

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Costa-Ferro, Z.S.M., de Borba Cunha, F., de Freitas Souza, B.S. et al. Antiepileptic and neuroprotective effects of human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells in a pilocarpine-induced epilepsy model. Cytotechnology 66, 193–199 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-013-9557-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-013-9557-3

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