Volume 5 • Issue 6 • 1000240 J Neurol Neurophysiol ISSN: 2155-9562 JNN, an open access journal Open Access Korayem et al., J Neurol Neurophysiol 2014, 5:6 DOI: 10.4172/2155-9562.1000240 Open Access Potential Therapeutic Effect of Hematopoietic Stem Cells on Cerebellar Ataxia in Adult Female Rats Subjected to Cerebellar Damage by Monosodium Glutamate Horeya E Korayem 1 , Mohamed Abdo 2 , Magda M Naim 1 , Soha E Yones 3 and Somaya Hosny 1 * 1 Histology department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt 2 Physiology department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt 3 Clinical Pathology department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt *Corresponding author: Somaya Hosny, Faculty of Medicine,Suez Canal University,Ismailia, Egypt, Tel: +201223773789; E-mail: somaya@hotmail.com Received August 29, 2014; Accepted October 13, 2014; Published October 17, 2014 Citation: Korayem HE, Abdo M, Naim MM, Yones SE, Hosny S (2014) Potential Therapeutic Effect of Hematopoietic Stem Cells on Cerebellar Ataxia in Adult Female Rats Subjected to Cerebellar Damage by Monosodium Glutamate. J Neurol Neurophysiol 5: 240. doi:10.4172/2155-9562.1000240 Copyright: © 2014 Korayem HE, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Background: Research evidence has indicated that monosodium glutamate (MSG) consumption produces certain deleterious effects on the cerebellum of adult rats at high doses which can consequently affect cerebellar function. The use of stem cells in nervous system disorders is a growing feld, which in numerous reports has shown promising results in the restoration of neurological function. Aim: To compare the effect of injection of human umbilical cord blood CD34+ stem cells versus CD34- fraction in a rat model of cerebellar damage induced by monosodium glutamate. Methods: Forty adult female albino rats were equally randomized into 4 groups: group I served as control, group II received MSG, group III received MSG followed by CD34+ stem cell separated from umbilical cord blood of human male fetuses, group IV received MSG followed by the CD34- fraction. At the end of the experiment, all rats were subjected to assessment of motor function, histological and immunohistochemical techniques as well as a polymerase chain reaction analysis of male-specifc Sry gene. Results: Group II showed a signifcant decrease in the mean number of Purkinje cells and cells of the molecular layer. Nissl’s granules and length of dendrites of Purkinje cells were markedly decreased. Marked increase of GFAP immunoexpression in astrocytes was also detected. Group III stem cells showed improvement in motor function after 4 weeks of treatment. The CD34- group (IV) showed more increase in the number of cells in the molecular, granular and Purkinje cell layers as well as an increase in Nissl’s granules and Purkinje cell dendrite length compared to CD34+ stem cell group (III). There was also a signifcant decrease in optical density of GFAP immunoexpression of the CD 34- group compared to both MSG and CD34+ groups. The Sry gene was not detected in either of the CD34+ and CD34- groups implying that the improvement happened without homing of stem cells in the cerebellum. Conclusion: Both CD34 -ve and CD34+ve stem cells improved cerebellar structure and function against damage induced by monosodium glutamate; however CD34- stem cells showed more improvement than CD34+ stem cells. Keywords: Monosodium glutamate; Cerebellum; CD34+ stem cells; CD34-stem cells Introduction In spite of its known toxic efects on the cerebellum, monosodium glutamate (MSG), is widely used in food industry in our world today. Te representing symptom for its toxic efects is ataxia [1]. Tis debilitating disease is caused by sustained high concentrations of MSG, as an excitatory amino acid, in the synaptic clef region resulting in excessive glutamate receptor activation with persistent depolarization producing metabolic and functional exhaustion of the afected neurons leading to neural necrosis [2]. Moreover, the increased levels of glutamate lead to increased calcium entry, internal oxidative stress with generation of free radicals, mitochondrial dysfunction, and eventually necrosis [3]. It was found that human umbilical cord blood stem cells (CD34+/ CD34-) or human bone marrow, although hematopoietic in nature, under certain conditions can change their natural fate and display neural features [4], so they can be good candidates for treating spinocerebellar ataxia. However, no studies have compared the efcacy of the diferent types of cells. Tus, the purpose of this study is to compare the efect of transplantation of human umbilical cord blood stem cells; CD34+ versus CD34-, on cerebellar damage and motor function deterioration induced by monosodium glutamate in a preclinical animal model. Material and Methods Animal model Forty adult female albino rats weighing 120-150 grams were used in this study, divided into 4 groups. Group I (Control group): animals in this group received daily intraperitoneal (IP) injection of one ml distilled water for 10 days followed by a single dose of one ml intravenous (IV) injection of distilled water on the 11th day. Group II (MSG group): animals in this group were subjected to chemically induced cerebellar injury by daily IP injection of 6 mg/Kg of MSG for Journal of Neurology & Neurophysiology J o u r n a l o f N e u r ol o g y & N e ur o p h y s i o l o g y ISSN: 2155-9562 Research Article