Effects of graft pooling of foetal rat and mouse tissue and immunosuppression in the 6-hydroxydopamine rat model of Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Experimental brain research 1997-06, Vol.115 (1), p.71-82
• Main Authors: SCHWARZ, S. C, SAUER, H, OERTEL, W. H, EARL, C. D, KUPSCH, A. R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Tissue Transplantation - physiology; Cyclosporine - therapeutic use; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Female; Fetal Tissue Transplantation - physiology; Graft Survival - drug effects; Immunosuppressive Agents - therapeutic use; Medical sciences; Mesencephalon - transplantation; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neostriatum - transplantation; Neurology; Oxidopamine; Parkinson Disease, Secondary - chemically induced; Parkinson Disease, Secondary - drug therapy; Parkinson Disease, Secondary - surgery; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Stereotyped Behavior - drug effects; Stereotyped Behavior - physiology; Sympatholytics; Transplantation, Heterologous - physiology; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase - metabolism
• ISSN: 0014-4819; 1432-1106
• DOI: 10.1007/PL00005687

We employed intracerebral co-transplantation of foetal xenogeneic striatal mouse tissue and allogeneic rat substantia nigra into the adult rat brain to elucidate the effects of xenogeneic mouse graft on the function and survival of an allogeneic rat graft in 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned Sprague-Dawley rats. Foetal mouse striatum (STR) and rat substantia nigra (VM) were transplanted as non-pooled separate deposits or a pooled cell suspension with or without cyclosporin A (Cy A). Immunosuppressed recipients of pooled rat and mouse co-grafts showed a significantly better compensation of amphetamine-induced rotational behaviour compared with non-immunosuppressed animals with pooled rat and mouse co-grafts 3 and 6 weeks post-grafting. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry revealed a non-significant reduction in survival in pooled (1806.3+/-367.5 cells) rat and mouse co-transplants without immunosuppression compared with immunosuppressed pooled (3383.3+/-732.7 cells) animals with allo- and xenogeneic tissue and controls (3506.4+/-839.3 cells). Graft volumes were significantly reduced in pooled transplants without immunosuppression (0.1+/-0.026 mm3; ANOVA post-hoc Scheffe F-test, P