Wharton’s Jelly Transplantation Improves Neurologic Function in a Rat Model of Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can lead to disability, dysfunction, and even death, is a prominent health problem worldwide. Effective therapy for this serious and debilitating condition is needed. Human umbilical cord matrix, known as Wharton's jelly (WJ), provides a natural, interface scaffold that is enriched in mesenchymal stem cells. In this study, we tested the efficacy of WJ tissue transplantation in a weight drop model of TBI in rats. WJ tissue was cultured and transplanted into the injury site 24h after TBI. The modified neurologic severity score, body weight, brain edema, and lesion volume were evaluated at various time points after TBI. Cognitive behavior was assessed by the novel object recognition test and the Morris water maze test. Expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the perilesional brain area was measured at day 14 after TBI. We found that WJ tissue transplantation lessened TBI-induced brain edema (day 3), reduced lesion volume (day 28), improved neurologic function (days 21 to 28), and promoted memory and cognitive recovery. Additionally, expression of BDNF mRNA and protein was higher in WJ tissue-treated rats than in sham-operated or vehicle-treated rats. These data suggest that WJ tissue transplantation can reduce TBI-induced brain injury and may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of TBI.

Cerebroprotection of flavanol (-)-epicatechin after traumatic brain injury via Nrf2-dependent and -independent pathways

“…Brain water content was measured on day 3 after TBI, as described previously [41]. Mice were euthanized by decapitation.…”

“…A 3-mm coronal section around the major area of injury was collected in ice-cold PBS with a mouse brain slicer matrix (Zivic Instruments, Pittsburgh, PA) [15, 41]. We used the Nuclear Extraction Kit (Origene, Rockville, MD) to isolate cytosolic and nuclear protein fractions.…”

“…The Bradford protein assay (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) was used to quantify total protein. Western blotting was carried out as previously described [41]. Equal amounts of protein were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to polyvinylidene fluoride membranes (Bio-Rad).…”

Preclinical progenitor cell therapy in traumatic brain injury: a meta-analysis

“…Thirty-eight studies met inclusion criteria and underwent data extraction and quality assessment. Of these studies, some reported more than one pertinent outcome measure so that a total of 10 studies presented data for RR outcomes (16–25), 14 presented data on LV outcomes (23, 26–38), 21 assessed NSS outcomes (17–21, 23–26, 28, 29, 31, 36, 38–53), and 13 presented data on MWM testing (17, 18, 24, 26, 28, 29, 36, 38, 49–53). Specific study characteristics are listed in Table 1.…”

Preparation of Amniotic Membrane and It’s Application in the Treatment of Skin Loss and Lyell's Syndrome (Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis): Current State and New Opportunities

“…Another important trait of these cells is their immunomodulatory properties. They can suppress immune response through inhibition of T cells, B cells, NK cells and dendritic cells [12][13][14].…”