Brain aging and neurotransplantation. I. Nigral cell suspension graft to aged rodent striatum and motor disabilities

Summary The possibilities of neural transplantation were studied in functional motor recovery of 21–23-month-old Sprague-Dawley male rats. Age-dependent functional losses of rats were evaluated using the Marshall scale for swimming abilities, narrow bridge task and suspension on horizontal wire. Fifteen rats exhibited motor disabilities when were compared with young control rats. Deficient rats were divided in two groups: one group received dissociated fetal dopaminergic cells from ventral mesencephalon (E12–E14) to striatum, whereas the other group having the same level of impairment, was followed without any graft and served as age-matched controls. Cell survival and behavior were evaluated twelve weeks after grafting by immunocytochemistry (tyrosine hydroxylase=TH) and the same behavioral test battery.