Detection of 111In-oxine-labeled bone marrow stromal cells after intravenous or intralesional administration in chronic paraplegic rats

Recent studies suggested that bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) may have a therapeutic role in the treatment of paraplegia secondary to severe spinal cord injury (SCI). For this reason, we have studied the possibility of using nuclear medicine imaging techniques to evaluate the permanency and migration of BMSC after transplantation procedures in chronic paraplegic Wistar rats. After intravenous administration of 111In-oxine-labeled BMSC, gammagraphic images showed that the activity distributed all over the organism, but in the spinal cord only scarce activity was identified. When 111In-oxine-labeled BMSC were injected within the traumatic centromedullary cavity of paraplegic animals, the gammagraphic images showed persistent activity in the lesion zone, without any activity migrating to the rest of the organism, at least during the whole time of the study (10 days after transplantation procedures). Our results show the utility of 111In labeling for to know the permanency and distribution of BMSC after grafting procedures, and suggest the convenience of the intralesional administration of BMSC, instead of the intravenous administration, in the treatment of chronic traumatic paraplegia.