Clinical effects of bone marrow stem cell transplantation through different approaches in mice with acute liver injury

Objective To investigate the migration of bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) to the liver and liver repair in mice with acute liver injury treated with BMSC transplantation through four approaches.Methods Male BALB/c mice were divided into groups A, B, C, D, E, and F, with 10 mice in each group.Groups A, B, C, and D were treated by transplantation, group E was used as the donor of BMSCs, and group F was used as the model of acute liver injury.CCL4/2-AFF was used to establish the model of acute liver injury.Mouse BMSCs were isolated, labeled with the red fluorescent dye PKH26, and then transplanted into the mice with acute liver injury through the portal vein (group A) , the tail vein (group B) , the abdominal cavity (group C) , and the spleen (group D) .The mice were sacrificed 2 weeks later.Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) , aspartate aminotransferase (AST) , and albumin (Alb) were measured.The pathology of liver tissue was observed to evaluate the migration of BMSCs to the liver and the degree of liver repair.The mice in group F were sacrificed on day 8 to measure the levels of ALT, AST, and Alb.The t test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups.Results In groups A, B, C, and D, transplanted BMSCs migrated to the liver under a microscope, and newly formed hepatocytes were observed on pathological images.There were significant differences in the levels of ALT, AST, and Alb between groups A, B, C, and D and group F (ALT:t=2.372, 2.473, 2.354, and 2.383, all P<0.05;AST:t=2.534, 2.423, 2.437, and 2.643, all P<0.05;Alb:t=2.336, 2.243, 2.373, and 2.352, all P<0.05) .Conclusion BMSCs can promote repair of the liver in mice with acute liver injury, and the degree of liver repair is not related to the transplantation approach.