Figure 3.

Functional recovery of paraplegic rats after olfactory bulb-ensheathing glia transplantation at subacute (SA) and chronic (Chr) stages. (A, B) Levels achieved in the climbing test by (A) non-transplanted (Non-T) and SA, and by (B) Non-T and Chr rats at 3, 5 and 7 months post-grafting. Transplanted rats showed a functional recovery significantly higher than Non-T (SA: p < 0.001 and Chr: p = 0.001). Differences started to be significant from month 6 in SA rats (month 6: p = 0.029, months 7 and 8: p = 0.020), and from month 7 in Chr (p = 0.045). There were no differences between SA and Chr groups (compare A and B). (C) Progression of the functional outcome in all groups from the first month post-lesion until the end of the survival period (month 12). Each point represents the percentage of functional recovery exhibited by animals of each group. Dashed lines show the periods used to compare the outcome of Non-T vs. SA (long dash) and Non-T vs. Chr animals (short dash) from the first to the eighth month post-grafting. Non-T animals (grey rhombi) showed a slight but insignificant recovery. Before grafting, Chr and SA groups behaved as Non-T animals. SA group (black circles) and Chr (black triangles) started improving 2 months after transplantation (3 and 6 months post-lesion, respectively). Improvement of SA and Chr rats commenced at the second month, and began to be significant from the fifth (p = 0.004) and fourth months (p = 0.021), respectively.