title: Effects of umbilical cord tissue mesenchymal stem cells (UCX®) on rat sciatic nerve regeneration after neurotmesis injuries.
abstract: Peripheral nerves have the intrinsic capacity of self-regeneration after traumatic injury but the extent of the regeneration is often very poor. Increasing evidence demonstrates that mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) may play an important role in tissue regeneration through the secretion of soluble trophic factors that enhance and assist in repair by paracrine activation of surrounding cells. In the present study, the therapeutic value of a population of umbilical cord tissue-derived MSCs, obtained by a proprietary method (UCX(®)), was evaluated on end-to-end rat sciatic nerve repair. Furthermore, in order to promote both, end-to-end nerve fiber contacts and MSC cell-cell interaction, as well as reduce the flush away effect of the cells after administration, a commercially available haemostatic sealant, Floseal(®), was used as vehicle. Both, functional and morphologic recoveries were evaluated along the healing period using extensor postural thrust (EPT), withdrawal reflex latency (WRL), ankle kinematics analysis, and either histological analysis or stereology, in the hyper-acute, acute and chronic phases of healing. The histological analysis of the hyper-acute and acute phase studies revealed that in the group treated with UCX(®) alone the Wallerian degeneration was improved for the subsequent process of regeneration, the fiber organization was higher, and the extent of fibrosis was lower. The chronic phase experimental groups revealed that treatment with UCX(®) induced an increased number of regenerated fibers and thickening of the myelin sheet. Kinematics analysis showed that the ankle joint angle determined for untreated animals was significantly different from any of the treated groups at the instant of initial contact (IC). At opposite toe off (OT) and heel rise (HR), differences were found between untreated animals and the groups treated with either uCx(®) alone or UCX(®) administered with Floseal(®). Overall, the UCX(®) application presented positive effects in functional and morphologic recovery, in both the acute and chronic phases of the regeneration process. Kinematics analysis has revealed positive synergistic effects brought by Floseal(®) as vehicle for MSCs.
authors: Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS) , Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. ; Centro de Estudos de Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias e Agro-Alimentares (ICETA) , Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, 4051-401, Porto, Portugal. ; These authors contributed equally for the results present in this research work.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Gärtner
authors: Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS) , Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. ; Centro de Estudos de Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias e Agro-Alimentares (ICETA) , Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, 4051-401, Porto, Portugal. ; These authors contributed equally for the results present in this research work.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Pereira
authors: Faculdade de Motricidade Humana (FMH), Universidade de Lisboa (UL) , Estrada da Costa, 1499-002, Cruz Quebrada - Dafundo, Portugal. ; CIPER-FMH: Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudo de Performance Humana, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana (FMH) , Universidade de Lisboa (UL), Estrada da Costa, 1499-002, Cruz Quebrada - Dafundo, Portugal.
authors: Pas
authors: P
authors: Armada-da-Silva
authors: CIPER-FMH: Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudo de Performance Humana, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana (FMH) , Universidade de Lisboa (UL), Estrada da Costa, 1499-002, Cruz Quebrada - Dafundo, Portugal. ; UIS-IPL: Unidade de Investigação em Saúde da Escola Superior de Saúde de Leiria , Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Portugal.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Amado
authors: Faculdade de Motricidade Humana (FMH), Universidade de Lisboa (UL) , Estrada da Costa, 1499-002, Cruz Quebrada - Dafundo, Portugal. ; CIPER-FMH: Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudo de Performance Humana, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana (FMH) , Universidade de Lisboa (UL), Estrada da Costa, 1499-002, Cruz Quebrada - Dafundo, Portugal.
authors: Ap
authors: A
authors: Veloso
authors: Departamento de Patologia e de Imunologia Molecular, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS) , Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. ; Instituto Português de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da niversidade do Porto (IPATIMUP) , Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Amorim
authors: Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS) , Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. ; Centro de Estudos de Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias e Agro-Alimentares (ICETA) , Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, 4051-401, Porto, Portugal. ; UPVET, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS) , Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Ribeiro
authors: CEMUC, Departamento de Engenharia Metalúrgica e Materiais, Faculdade de Engenharia , Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors: Jd
authors: J
authors: Santos
authors: ECBio - Research and Development in Biotechnology S.A. , Rua Henrique Paiva Couceiro, 27, 2700-451 Amadora, Portugal.
authors: Rn
authors: R
authors: Bárcia
authors: ECBio - Research and Development in Biotechnology S.A. , Rua Henrique Paiva Couceiro, 27, 2700-451 Amadora, Portugal.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Cruz
authors: ECBio - Research and Development in Biotechnology S.A. , Rua Henrique Paiva Couceiro, 27, 2700-451 Amadora, Portugal.
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Cruz
authors: Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS) , Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. ; Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS) , Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
authors: Al
authors: A
authors: Luís
authors: ECBio - Research and Development in Biotechnology S.A. , Rua Henrique Paiva Couceiro, 27, 2700-451 Amadora, Portugal.
authors: Jm
authors: J
authors: Santos
authors: Neuroscience Institute of the Cavalieri Ottolenghi Foundation , Turin, Italy. ; Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences , University of Turin, Italy.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Geuna
authors: Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS) , Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. ; Centro de Estudos de Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias e Agro-Alimentares (ICETA) , Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, 4051-401, Porto, Portugal.
authors: Ac
authors: A
authors: Maurício
keywords: Wharton’s jelly; functional assessment; mesenchymal stem cells; myelinization; neurotmesis; stereology