Cografts of adrenal medulla with peripheral nerve enhance the survivability of transplanted adrenal chromaffin cells and recovery of the host nigrostriatal dopaminergic system in MPTP-treated young adult mice

Schwann cells from transected peripheral nerve segments are known to produce nerve growth factor (NGF). We performed adrenal medullary grafts or cografts of adrenal medulla and sciatic nerve into tthe striatum of MPTP-treated young adult mice, and compared the survivability of grafted chromaffin cells and the recovery of intrinsic host DA fibers using computerized image analysis of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive (IR) fibers and neurochemical analysis with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Adrenal medullary chromaffin cells cografted with sciatic nerve survived better than those in adrenal grafts alone; host DA fiber recovery was more prominent in mice with cografts than in mice with adrenal grafts alone. A large number of TH-IR surviving cells in cografted mice showed long neuronal processes which were rarely seen in the mice receiving adrenal graft alone. We conclude that cograft of adrenal medulla and sciatic nerve promotes intrinsic host DA fiber recovery better than adrenal medulla grafts alone, and that survivability of grafted chromaffin cell may promote host DA fiber recovery. Adrenal medullary autografts have been used in patients with Parkinson's disease; we suggest that if this approach is to be used in the future, methods to increase the survivability of grafted chromaffin cells, such as co-grafting with pieces of peripheral nerve, be considered to enhance the survivability of the chromaffin cells, which might be closely related to the functional recovery of the patients by this grafting procedure. Of course, such strategies as the present cografting approach must be demonstrated to work in older animals using older donor tissue before proceeding to this next step in humans.