Intranasal Administration of Conditioned Medium from Cultured Mesenchymal Stem Cells Improves Cognitive Impairment in Olfactory Bulbectomized Mice

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the common cause of dementia which shows the neuro-pathologies like an accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) and degeneration of cholinergic neuron. Olfactory bulbectomized (OBX) mice show some of AD features, so they have been used to research as AD model. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into many kinds of cells, including neuronal cells. In this study, we intranasally administrated the conditioned medium derived from cultured umbilical cord (UC) MSCs. The intranasal administration of the MSCs medium restored the cognitive impairment observed in OBX mice. In addition, the decreased number of choline acetyltransferase-positive cells in the medial septum was restored by the conditioned medium administration. In conclusion, MSCs-derived conditioned medium may have protective effects of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum, thereby rescuing the cognitive impairment of OBX.