Abstract
Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was injected with dissociated substantia nigral cells into the striatum of rats prepared by unilateral lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway with 6-hydroxydopamine. The transplanted cells with 5 and 50 ng bFGF reduced the apomorphine-induced rotations by 40 and 30%, respectively, while the decrement of rotations was only 15% in the grafted control without bFGF. Immunohistochemical staining with anti-tyrosine hydroxylase antibody showed that bFGF also tended to increase the number of grafted catecholaminergic neurons along the tracts. In the case of 50 ng bFGF treatment but not 0 or 5 ng bFGF treatment, however, severe gliosis was detected along the grafted region by staining of anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein antibody. These immunohistochemical studies suggested that high-dose bFGF induced extensive gliosis, which might affect the survival of the grafted neurons.
