Transplantation of human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) mononuclear cells leads to extensive restoration of gross motor function after cerebral hypoxia-ischemia in neonatal rats

Objectives: In this study, hUCB cells were investigated for their potential to migrate specifically to a lesion site and restore impaired gross motor function in a rodent model of perinatal brain damage. Methods: 7 days old Wistar rats (P7, n=10 each group) underwent a ligation of the left common carotid artery followed by 80 mins of hypoxia; sham-operated animals served as controls. 24 hours after the insult, animals received either a sham injection of saline, intraperitoneal or intrathecal transplantation of 1×107 hUCB cells. Two and 5 weeks after transplantation all animals were tested for muscle strength (ro…