Figure 1. Inhibition of CCI-induced evoked and ongoing neuropathic pain in mice by a single i.t. injection of BMSCs.
(A and B) Prolonged inhibition of mechanical allodynia (A) and thermal hyperalgesia (B) for 5 weeks by early treatment with i.t. injection of BMSCs (1.0 or 2.5 × 105 cells), given 4 days after CCI. *P < 0.05, compared with vehicle (PBS); n = 6 mice/group. (C and D) Reversal of mechanical allodynia (C) and thermal hyperalgesia (D) by late treatment with i.t. BMSCs (1.0 or 2.5 × 105 cells), given 14 days after CCI. Arrows in A–D indicate the time of BMSC injection. *P < 0.05, compared with vehicle; #P < 0.05; n = 6 mice/group. (E) Paradigm for measuring ongoing pain using a 2-chamber CPP test. (F) CCI-induced ongoing pain was abolished by treatment with BMSCs. *P < 0.05, compared with saline; n = 5 mice/group. Statistical significance was determined by 2-way repeated-measures ANOVA, followed by Bonferroni’s post-hoc test (A–D) or Student’s t test (F). All data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. BL, baseline.