Neuropathic pain treatment in a mouse model with human adipose-derived stem cells

Neuropathic pain is a complex disease associated with neuronal-tissue damage. Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ASCs), have shown the capacity of limiting neuronal damage through their anti-apoptotic effect, together with their capacity of releasing neurotrophic molecules. Our study aimed to detect the effect of human ASCs in a mouse sciatic nerve chronic constriction injury (CCI) model. hASCs were isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissue of 5 healthy women (mean age 37 ± 12) and characterized in order to verify their stemness. 106 hASCs were injected into the rodents caudal vein 7 days after CCI, and, at 1, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days post injection, we assessed their effect on mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia, and it correlated with the alteration of the profile of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. hASCs were able to completely reverse hyperalgesia and reduce allodynia starting 24 h after injection. The effect began to fade 21 days after administration, but it could be restored by a new cell injection (106). We also observed a recovery of cytokines balance both for pro- (IL-1β) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) ones. Here, we demonstrated that hASCs treatment is able to reduce neuropathic pain symptoms and to re-establish cytokine balance in a CCI mouse model; this phenomenon might be due to the recruitment of cells in the lesion area and to their interaction with the resident ones inducing a modulation of pain and inflammation.