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Centella asiatica (L.)-Neurodifferentiated Mesenchymal Stem Cells Promote the Regeneration of Peripheral Nerve

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Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Aims and scope

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Centella asiatica (L.) is a plant with neuroprotective and neuroregenerative properties; however, its effects on the neurodifferentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and on peripheral nerve injury are poorly explored. This study aimed to investigate the effects of C. asiatica (L.)-neurodifferentiated MSCs on the regeneration of peripheral nerve in a critical-size defect animal model.

METHODS:

Nerve conduit was developed using decellularised artery seeded with C. asiatica-neurodifferentiated MSCs (ndMSCs). A 1.5 cm sciatic nerve injury in Sprague–Dawley rat was bridged with reversed autograft (RA) (n = 3, the gold standard treatment), MSC-seeded conduit (MC) (n = 4) or ndMSC-seeded conduit (NC) (n = 4). Pinch test and nerve conduction study were performed every 2 weeks for a total of 12 weeks. At the 12th week, the conduits were examined by histology and transmission electron microscopy.

RESULTS:

NC implantation improved the rats’ sensory sensitivity in a similar manner to RA. At the 12th week, nerve conduction velocity was the highest in NC compared with that of RA and MC. Axonal regeneration was enhanced in NC and RA as shown by the expression of myelin basic protein (MBP). The average number of myelinated axons was significantly higher in NC than in MC but significantly lower than in RA. The myelin sheath thickness was higher in NC than in MC but lower than in RA.

CONCLUSION:

NC showed promising effects on nerve regeneration and functional restoration similar to those of RA. These findings revealed the neuroregenerative properties of C. asiatica and its potential as an alternative strategy for the treatment of critical size nerve defect.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Malaysia under NKEA Research Grant Scheme (NRGS) (Project Code: NH 1014 D048) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Project Code: FF-2017-175 and GUP-2017-007). The author would like to thank Prof. Dr. Mohd Ilham Adenan from Atta-ur-Rahman Institute for Natural Product Discovery, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, who kindly provided C. asiatica extract for use in this experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tissue Engineering Centre, 12th Floor, Clinical Block, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaakob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Hanita Mohd Hussin & Yogeswaran Lokanathan

  2. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Mahazura Mat Lawi, Nor Hazla Mohamed Haflah & Abdul Yazid Mohd Kassim

  3. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Ruszymah Bt Hj Idrus

Authors
  1. Hanita Mohd Hussin
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  2. Mahazura Mat Lawi
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  3. Nor Hazla Mohamed Haflah
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  4. Abdul Yazid Mohd Kassim
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  6. Yogeswaran Lokanathan
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Correspondence to Yogeswaran Lokanathan.

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Ethical statement

The animal study was approved by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Animal Ethics Committee (TEC/PP/2016/YOGESWARAN/18-MAY/747-MAY-2016-FEB.-2018). For the isolation of human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSCs), the written informed consents were obtained from healthy women who delivered full-term infants (38–40 weeks) by elective caesarian delivery prior to the collection of umbilical cord samples. The usage of human umbilical cord samples from consenting patients in this study was approved by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Research Ethics Committee (FF-2015-175).

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Hussin, H.M., Lawi, M.M., Haflah, N.H.M. et al. Centella asiatica (L.)-Neurodifferentiated Mesenchymal Stem Cells Promote the Regeneration of Peripheral Nerve. Tissue Eng Regen Med 17, 237–251 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-019-00235-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-019-00235-6

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