Intracerebral transplantation of testis-derived sertoli cells promotes functional recovery in female rats with 6-hydroxydopamine-induced hemiparkinsonism.

Recently, we demonstrated amelioration of behavioral deficits associated with 6-hydroxydopamine-induced hemiparkinsonism by transplanting rat testis-derived Sertoli cells into adult male rat brains. In the present study, we used adult female hemiparkinsonian rats to investigate whether the beneficial effects of transplantation of Sertoli cells may be differentially affected by gender of the animal transplant recipient. At 1 month posttransplantation, animals transplanted with Sertoli cells showed functional recovery as revealed by significant reductions in apomorphine-induced rotational behavior and asymmetrical elevated body swing behavior. Control animals that received medium alone did not display any visible behavioral recovery. These results suggest that transplantation of Sertoli cells is not male hormone-dependent and further support the use of these cells as a graft source for Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders.