Remodeling of the thoracic aorta after bone marrow cell transplantation

Abstract

Stem cells are characterized by their ability to differentiate into multiple cell lineages and display the paracrine effect. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of therapy with bone marrow cells (BMCs) on blood glucose, lipid metabolism and aortic wall remodeling in mice through the administration of a high fat diet and subsequent BMCs transplantation. C57BL/6 mice were fed a control diet (CO group) or an atherogenic diet (AT group). After 16 weeks, the AT group was divided into four groups: an AT 14 days group and AT 21 days group, that were given an injection of vehicle and sacrificed at 14 and 21 days after, respectively; AT-BMC 14 days group and AT-BMC 21 days group that was given an injection of BMCs and sacrificed at 14 and 21 days after. The CO group was sacrificed along with other groups. The BMCs transplant had reduced blood glucose, triglycerides and total cholesterol. The Qa (1/mm(2)) was quantitatively reduced in AT 14 days group, AT 21 days group and was high in AT-BMC 21 days group. The AT 21 days group exhibited increased tunica media and elastic system fibers. The immunolabeling for α-SMA and VEGF showed less immunolabeling in transplanted groups with BMCs. The immunostaining for PCNA seems to be more expressive in the group AT-BMC 21 days group. To conclude, our results support the concept that in mice, the injection of BMCs improve glucose levels, lipid metabolism and remodeling of the aortic wall in animals using atherogenic diet.

Keywords: Bone marrow cells; aorta remodeling; atherogenic diet.

Figure 1

Quantitative analysis of cell nuclei number (Qa 1/mm²). Data are shown as mean ± standard error of the mean. Symbols represent statistical difference (P < 0.05) with: [a] vs. CO group; [b] vs. AT 14 days group; [c] vs. AT-BMC 21 days group; [d] vs. AT 21 days.

Figure 2

Quantitative analysis of thoracic aorta showing TM thickness. Abbreviations: CO, AT 21 days group, AT-BMC 21 days group. Data are shown as mean ± standard error of the mean. Symbols represent statistical difference (P < 0.05) with: [a] vs. CO group; [b] vs. AT 21 days group.

Figure 3

Quantitative analysis of the percentage of elastic fibers within Tunica media. Abbreviations: CO, AT 21 days group, AT-BMC 21 days group. Data are shown as mean ± standard error of the mean. Symbols represent statistical difference (P < 0.05) with: [a] vs. CO group; [b] vs. AT 21 days group.

Figure 4

Photomicrographs of the thoracic aorta stained for anti VEGF. The negative control of the immunohistochemical reaction is shown in (D). Groups: CO (A); AT 14 days group (B); AT-BMC 14 days group (C); AT 21 days group (E); AT-BMC 21 days group (F). All images are in same scale (bar = 50 μm). Arrows indicate markings.

Figure 5

Photomicrographs of the thoracic aorta stained for anti α-SMA. The negative control of the immunohistochemical reaction is shown in (D). Groups: CO (A); AT 14 days group (B); AT-BMC 14 days group (C); AT 21 days group (E); AT-BMC 21 days group (F). All images are in same scale (bar = 50 μm). Arrows indicate markings.

Figure 6

Photomicrographs of the thoracic aorta immunohistochemistry for anti PCNA (A-C). The negative control of the immunohistochemical reaction is shown in (D). Groups: CO (A); AT 21 days group (B); AT-BMC 21 days group (C). The negative control of the immunohistochemical reaction is shown in (D). All images are in same scale (bar = 50 μm). Arrows indicate immunolabeling.