Aging-related changes in the blood flow rate and oxygen saturation of the blood in the cerebral cortex of rats

Male Wistar-Kyoto rats received intracerebral transplantation of syngeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at 22–24 months of age. The cognitive function of these animals was tested and the microvasculature density, tissue blood-flow rate, and oxygen saturation of mixed blood in the cortical microvasculature were measured in the sensorimotor cortex of the contralateral brain hemisphere under standard conditions, after norepinephrine application, and in global ischemia 3 weeks after cell transplantation. Rats at 2–3 and 22–24 months of age were used as the control groups. MSC transplantation had a positive impact on microcirculation in the cerebral cortex of old animals: deterioration of the vascular bed was prevented and the level of oxygen saturation of blood in the microvasculature was elevated; therefore, the tolerance of animals to the spasm of pial arterioles and global cerebral ischemia was increased, although aging-related decline of cognitive functions was not alleviated.