Effect of chondroitin sulfate and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells on intervertebral disc degeneration treatment in rabbits

The present study evaluated the influence of bone marrow-derived stem cells (BM-SC) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) on histological changes in intervertebral disc (IVD). A randomized clinical trial was conducted, thirty-six healthy New Zealand rabbits were randomly distributed into four different groups (n=9): con-trol group (A), stem cell group (B), chondroitin sulfate group (C), and associa-tion of stem cells with chondroitin sulfate group (D). All animals underwent the experimental disc degeneration procedure. Group A received two intradiscal applications of DEM (Dulbecco’s modified eagle’s medium), one and two weeks after intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD), while group B received two intradiscal applications of 1.2 x 106 BM-SC at the same time interval as group A. After IVDD, group C received eight subcutaneous applications of CS at a dose of 5 mg/kg, one application every seven days. In contrast, group D received the association of the techniques used in groups B and C. Sixty days after the end of the interventions, all animals were euthanized, then the crani-ocaudal thickness of the IVD was measured, and IVDD was classified in scores according to the histological grading model. All groups that received CS had thicker IVDs, and all the treated groups presented better scores on several items and a better overall score. It was possible to conclude that in the species studied, the isolated use of CS or BM-SC was statistically significant in improv-ing the histopathological aspects of IVDD, however, the combination of treat-ments did not prove to be more efficient.