ABSTRACT
Brain ischemia is one of the most common causes of death and disability worldwide, which usually happens through diminished blood supply to the tissue. Cell therapy and treatments using trophic factors are some of the new methods to protect brain cells against damage. Specific properties of Sertoli cells (SCs) make them suitable for improving neurological disorders. This study is to evaluate possible neuroprotective effects of SCs transplantation on ischemic damage. Rats were divided into three experimental groups including sham, control, and SCs-treated group. In this study, SCs were isolated from testis of rats and were transplanted into the right striatum by using stereotaxic surgery. After a week, ischemic surgery was performed. Twenty-four hours later, rats were scarified and different regions of the brain including the cortex, the piriform cortex-amygdala (Pir-Amy), and the striatum were collected and preserved in - 80 °C for further investigations. This study demonstrates that SCs transplantation can reduce brain ischemia deficits and increase superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities. It also decreases malondialdehyde production, which is the main product of lipid peroxidation. SCs improve ischemic behavioral disorder and reduce brain edema, blood-brain barrier permeability, and infarct volume. It seems that transplantation of SCs can protect neural cells against ischemia by decreasing oxidative stress.