Published: J Neurosurg. 2009 Jun;110(6):1189-97. doi: 10.3171/2008.9.JNS08158.
Keyword: adult stem cell, cellular therapy, in vivo tracking, mesenchymal stem cell, traumatic brain injury
Author(s): "Harting MT, Jimenez F, Xue H, Fischer UM, Baumgartner J, Dash PK, Cox CS."
Summary: Cell therapy has shown preclinical promise in the treatment of many diseases, and its application is being translated to the clinical arena. Intravenous mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy has been shown to improve functional recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Herein, the authors report on their attempts to reproduce such observations, including detailed characterizations of the MSC population, non–bromodeoxyuridine-based cell labeling, macroscopic and microscopic cell tracking, quantification of cells traversing the pulmonary microvasculature, and well-validated measurement of motor and cognitive function recovery.