Olfactory Ensheathing Cells Rescue Optic Nerve Fibers in a Rat Glaucoma Model

PURPOSE: To determine if transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) can reduce loss of optic nerve axons after raised intraocular pressure (IOP) in the rat. METHODS: OECs cultured from the adult olfactory mucosa were transplanted into the region of the optic disc. The IOP was raised by injection of magnetic microspheres into the anterior chamber. RESULTS: At 4 weeks after raising the IOP, the transplanted OECs had migrated into the dorsal area of the optic nerve head (ONH) where they surrounded the optic nerve fibers with a non-myelinated ensheathment. The mean amount of damage to the ONH astrocytic area in rats was 51.0% compared with 85.8% in those without OEC transplants (P < 0.02) and the mean loss of axons in the optic nerve was 51.0% compared with 80.3% in the absence of OECs (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: OECs transplanted into the region of the ONH of the rat can reduce the loss of axons and the damage to ONH astrocytes caused by raised IOP. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: Confirmation of these preliminary experimental data, further understanding of possible mechanisms of axonal protection by OECs, and the longer-term time course of protection could provide a basis for future human clinical trials of autografted OECs, which would be available from autologous nasal epithelial biopsies