Ginsenosides Rg1 enhance the ability of olfactory ensheathing cells to repair spinal cord injury: An experimental study

Abstract

Objective To study the effects of ginsenoside Rg1 on effects of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) in spinal cord injury as well as their expression of neurotrophic factors like ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Methods OECs were primary cultured and purified from olfactory bulb of newborn SD rats. Purified cells were divided into 2 groups, the experimental group was treated with Rg1 in concentration of 40 μg/ml for 72 h (the optimal concentration and action time which have been proven by our previous study), the control group received an equal volume of Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Media: Nutrient Mixture F-12 (DMEM/F12) medium. The models of spinal cord injury was established by using Allen's combat, and were randomly divided into 3 groups, OECs group (inject the control group cells), Rg1+ OECs group (inject the experimental group cells) and control group (inject an equal volume of DMEM/F12 medium). Using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to determine mRNA expression of CNTF and VEGF in OECs group and Rg1+ OECs group. Results The Basso Beattie Bresnahan (BBB) score of Rg1+ OECs group was higher than the other two groups (15.0±1.0 vs.12.0±2.0, 7.4±0.9, P<0.05). Histology revealed that Rg1+ OECs group had larger number of neurons (64±3, 38±2, 26±2, P<0.01), lower level of GFAP expression and less damage of spinal cord tissue than OECs group and control group (8.65±0.32, 4.93±0.25, 2.21±0.17, P<0.01). RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that Rg1 significantly up-regulated mRNA expression of CNTF and VEGF (0.78±0.03, 0.39±0.03; 0.86±0.03, 0.61±0.02, P<0.05). Conclusion Ginsinoside Rg1 obviously improve the effects of olfactory ensheathing cell transplantation for spinal cord injury by the up-regulation of CNTF and VEGF. Key words: Ginsenoside Rg1; Olfactory ensheathing cells; Spinal cord injury; Cell transplantation; Gene expression