Tabriz Valiasr International Hospital Publication International Journal of Drug Research in Clinics 2980-9835 3 1 2025 01 12 Investigating the Efficacy of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Neurogenic Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction in Spinal Cord Injury Models: A Focus on c-Fos and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Expression e6 e6 10.34172/ijdrc.2025.e6 EN Sakineh Hajebrahimi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1494-7097 Leila Roshangar Reza Rahbarghazi Javad Mahmoudi Saeed Sadigh-Eteghad Nasrin Abolhasanpour Hanieh Salehi-Pourmehr https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9030-2106 Journal Article 10.34172/ijdrc.2025.e6 2024 09 09 2024 10 06 Background: Using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is an emergent strategy in the neuro-urology field. This study aimed to investigate whether intra-detrusor injection of MSCs is a possible therapy for spinal cord injury (SCI)-induced neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD) by measuring c-Fos as a proto-oncogene and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the spinal cord and bladder tissue of SCI rats. Methods: To induce SCI, rats were subjected to T9–10 laminectomy and complete transection of the spinal cord with a surgically sharp blade for a complete SCI model. For hemisection SCI in hemisection SCI (hSCI) groups, the animals underwent laminectomy at the T9 level of vertebrae and left hemisection of the spinal cord, respectively. A total of 42 adult female Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups. The control group received no treatment, while the sham group underwent a surgical procedure without any spinal cord damage. In addition, the complete transection SCI (cSCI) and hSCI groups underwent complete spinal cord transection or hemisection, respectively, and then received a saline injection into their bladder wall four weeks after the injury. Moreover, the cSCI+MSC and hSCI+MSC groups received an injection of bone marrow MSCs (BM-MSCs) into their bladder wall four weeks after the injury. Results: Endogenous BDNF levels were decreased in the bladder tissue after the induction of hSCI and cSCI compared to the sham and control groups (P<0.05). A slight but non-significant increase in the level of BDNF was observed in detrusor muscles. Furthermore, significant changes in the level of c-Fos were detected in the urinary bladder and spinal cord tissues pre-and-post BM-MSC (P<0.05). Further, c-Fos decreased in the detrusor muscle in the bladder tissue after BM-MSC administration either in the hSCI or cSCI group (P<0.05). A prominent decrease in c-Fos levels was also observed in hSCI rats compared to the cSCI group in spinal and urinary bladder tissues after BM-MSC injection. Conclusion: The transplantation of BM-MSCs suppressed c-Fos expression but did not change endogenous BDNF levels in the spinal cord. Using stem cell therapy to treat bladder dysfunction is a promising approach.