Neural like cells and acetyl-salicylic acid alter rat brain structure and function following transient middle cerebral artery occlusion

Introduction Transient cerebral ischemia is a pandemic neurological disorder and the main aim of medical intervention is to reduce complications. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal cells (hUCMs) are capable of differentiating into neural-like cells (NLC) in vitro, therefore we investigated the neuroprotective potential of these cells in comparison to aspirin and in combination (NLC-Aspirin) on spatial memory and neural morphologic changes in male rats submitted to transient cerebral ischemia. Methods Ten days after the intervention, the improvement in learning and memory were assessed in the animals by Morris Water Maze. Thence, the animals were examined for the presence of PKH26 labeled cells in the ischemic area of the brain, the infarct volume and neural changes in the brain tissue. Results Significant spatial memory deficits in the ischemic animals were detected compared with the control animals. The learning and memory were significantly improved (p ≤ 0.05) in the aspirin and NLC groups compared with the ischemic animals. Co-treatment of aspirin and NLCs did not improve the outcome. Moreover, infarction volume and neural changes were significantly altered when aspirin or NLCs were administered. Conclusions Our data suggest the significant neuroprotective potential of aspirin and neural-like cells derived from hUCM cells in the treatment of brain ischemic stroke. Further studies are required to evaluate possible underlying mechanisms, and to evaluate the possible interactions between aspirin and stem cells in a joint treatment aimed at the recovery of cognitive impairments.