Hibernated human fetal striatal tissue: Successful transplantation in a rat model of Huntington's disease

The use of fresh human fetal tissue in neural transplantation presents cons iderable logistical difficulties and limits the clinical applicability of t his promising therapy. This study compared the survival of human fetal stri atal tissue that had been stored for 24 h in a defined hibernation medium w ith that of fresh human fetal striatal tissue following xenotransplantation in a rat model of Huntington's disease (HD). Six to 7 weeks postgrafting. there was no significant difference between fresh and hibernated grafts in volume or in various striatal phenotypic markers, although there was a tren d towards decreased graft volume. We conclude that short-term hibernation o f this tissue is without significant adverse effects on the survival of gra fted human fetal striatal tissue. This has important implications for the p ractical implementation of clinical neural transplant programs in HD.