Umbilical Cord Blood Endothelial Progenitor Cells Modulate Neurovascular Unit Damage in a Neonatal Rat Model of Hypoxia Ischemia.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Neonatal hypoxia ischemia (HI) causes injury to the blood brain barrier (BBB), which in turn is associated with widespread cell loss. Cell therapies are currently being investigated for use in perinatal neuroprotection and umbilical cord blood (UCB) endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs; CD133+) have been previously shown to reduce gross neuropathology associated with HI; however, no study has investigated the effect of EPC treatment on the vulnerable BBB. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of EPC treatment on BBB integrity in a neonatal rat model of HI.

Methods

HI brain injury was induced in postnatal day (PND) 7 rat pups via permanent ligation of the left carotid artery, followed by a 180-minute hypoxic challenge at 8% O₂. At 24 h pos

SUBMITTER: Penny TR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12408744 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature