Human amniotic epithelial cell transplantation for the repair of injured brachial plexus nerve：evaluation of nerve viscoelastic properties

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 260 - 265
• Main Authors: Jin, Hua, Yang, Qi, Ji, Feng, Zhang, Ya-Jie, Zhao, Yan, Luo, Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.02.2015; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Jinan Maternity and Child Care Hospital, Jinan, Shandong Province, China%China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China%Shandong Corps Hospital of Chinese People’s Armed Police Forces, Jinan, Shandong Province, China; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Alzheimer′s disease; amyloid-β; Animals; astrocytes; astrocytoma; axon growth; blood circulation; Brachial plexus; brachial plexus injury; brain; Ca 2; calcilytic; calcium-sensing receptor; CD133; cell apoptosis; Cell transplantation; compartment syndrome; contusion; creep; Drinking water; earthquake; edaravone; electroacupuncture; electrophysiological function; Experiments; fluorescent quantitative PCR; forepaw function; glial fibrillary acidic protein; Health aspects; human amniotic epithelial cells; immunodeficiency (BALB/c) mice; immunohistochemistry; inflammation; Injuries; intervertebral disc; LSUHSC score; mice; Morphology; motor function; MRI; nerve decompression; nerve regeneration; nestin; neural regeneration; neurological function; neurons; neuroprotection; nitromemantine; Nogo-A; Notch; NPS 2143; NSFC grants; peripheral nerve injury; physiotherapy; Rabbits; Schwann cells; Spinal cord; spinal cord injury; Stem cells; stress relaxation; surgery therapy; surgical decompression; tumor necrosis factor α; Viscoelasticity; α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor; 上皮细胞; 修复; 周围神经损伤; 损伤部位; 粘弹特性; 细胞移植; 羊膜; 评价; Beijing China; China; neural regeneration; viscoelasticity; creep; forepaw function; brachial plexus injury; human amniotic epithelial cells; nerve regeneration; stress relaxation
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.152380

The transplantation of embryonic stem cells can effectively improve the creeping strength of nerves near an injury site in animals. Amniotic epithelial cells have similar biological properties as em-bryonic stem cells; therefore, we hypothesized that transplantation of amniotic epithelial cells can repair peripheral nerve injury and recover the creeping strength of the brachial plexus nerve. In the present study, a brachial plexus injury model was established in rabbits using the C6root avulsion method. A suspension of human amniotic epithelial cells was repeatedly injected over an area 4.0 mm lateral to the cephal and caudal ends of the C6 brachial plexus injury site （1 × 106 cells/mL, 3μL/injection, 25 injections） immediately after the injury. The results showed that the decrease in stress and increase in strain at 7,200 seconds in the injured rabbit C6 brachial plexus nerve were mitigated by the cell transplantation, restoring the viscoelastic stress relaxation and creep properties of the brachial plexus nerve. The forepaw functions were also signiifcantly improved at 26 weeks after injury. These data indicate that transplantation of human amniotic epithelial cells can effec-tively restore the mechanical properties of the brachial plexus nerve after injury in rabbits and that viscoelasticity may be an important index for the evaluation of brachial plexus injury in animals.