Zhao LN, Ma SW, Xiao J, Yang LJ, Xu SX, Zhao L. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell therapy regulates gut microbiota to improve post-stroke neurological function recovery in rats. World J Stem Cells 2021; 13(12): 1905-1917 [PMID: 35069989 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i12.1905]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Lan Zhao, PhD, Research Fellow, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 88 Chang Ling Road, Xi Qing District, Tianjin 300381, China. lanzhao69@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Neurosciences
Article-Type of This Article
Basic Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Stem Cells. Dec 26, 2021; 13(12): 1905-1917 Published online Dec 26, 2021. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i12.1905
Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell therapy regulates gut microbiota to improve post-stroke neurological function recovery in rats
Lin-Na Zhao, Song-Wen Ma, Jie Xiao, Li-Ji Yang, Shi-Xin Xu, Lan Zhao
Lin-Na Zhao, Song-Wen Ma, Jie Xiao, Li-Ji Yang, Shi-Xin Xu, Lan Zhao, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300381, China
Lin-Na Zhao, Song-Wen Ma, Jie Xiao, Li-Ji Yang, Shi-Xin Xu, Lan Zhao, National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin 300381, China
Lin-Na Zhao, Shi-Xin Xu, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Translational Research of TCM Prescription and Syndrome, Tianjin 300381, China
Author contributions: Zhao LN and Zhao L drafted and wrote the paper; Ma SW and Xiao J performed the experiments; Yang LJ performed the statistical analysis; Xu SX contributed to designing the experiments and revising the article.
Supported byNational Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81774059 and No. 82074533; Tianjin Natural Science Foundation, No. 19JCZDJC37100.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (IACUC protocol number: [Protocol No. TCM-LAEC2019038]).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE Guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE Guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lan Zhao, PhD, Research Fellow, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 88 Chang Ling Road, Xi Qing District, Tianjin 300381, China. lanzhao69@163.com
Received: May 5, 2021 Peer-review started: May 5, 2021 First decision: June 23, 2021 Revised: July 6, 2021 Accepted: December 11, 2021 Article in press: December 11, 2021 Published online: December 26, 2021
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Ischemic stroke is a highly lethal and disabling disease that has a severe impact on the quality of life of patients. Gut microbiota is closely related to the treatment and prognosis of stroke. The improvement of neurological function by bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) may be related to the regulation of gut microbiota.
Research motivation
Many studies have shown that gut microbiota plays an important role in immunity after stroke through the gut-brain axis.
Research objectives
To observe the regulation of gut microbiota after BMSC treatment.
Research methods
Rats were divided into three groups [Sham, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and BMSCs]. Recovery of neurological function in rats after BMSC transplantation was observed by the modified Neurological Severity Scores (mNSS), beam walking test, and Morris water maze test. Pathological observation of hippocampal neuronal cells was conducted by Nissl staining. 16S rDNA sequencing was used to analyze the composition of gut microbiota.
Research results
Transplantation of BMSCs significantly reduced mNSS scores (P < 0.01), and improved balance and coordination (P < 0.01), learning, and memory in rats. The structure of the C1 region of the hippocampus was clear and necrotic cells were significantly reduced after the intervention of BMSCs. Compared with the MCAO group, BMSCs effectively increased the relative abundance of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria and Lactobacillus in feces.
Research conclusions
Transplantation of BMSCs can regulate gut microbiota, which provides a potential therapeutic mechanism for stroke treatment.
Research perspectives
We demonstrated the modulatory effect of BMSCs on the gut microbiota after stroke, which provided an experimental basis for elucidating the gut-brain axis.
