Administration of Human Umbilical Cord Wharton's Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Rat Sciatic Nerve Regeneration

Annually, a lot of patients experience motor problems due to nerve lesions. One of procedures for treatment of peripheral nerves injuries is cell therapy. The aim of the present study was to investigate transplantation of umbilical cord Wharton's jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells for improvement of sciatic nerve of rat after cutting and suturing two parts of proximal and distal nerve. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCS) were isolated from human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly by non-enzymatic procedure. The morphology, proliferation and immunopheotype of the 3rd passage cells were analyzed. Twenty five male rats (200-250 g) were randomly divided into 3 groups: control (n=5), sham (n=10) and transplantation group (n=10). After anesthesia, surgery was performed on the three groups of rats but only the sciatic nerve in sham and transplantation groups was cut and then end proximal and distal nerve's epineurium were sutured. In transplantation group 700000 mesenchymal cells in the third passage injected into epineurium. Twelfth weeks after surgery, electromyography and foot print test were used to determine the restoration of nerve function and for each rat axon counted and compared. Flowcytometry analysis revealed that the MSCS derived from human umbilical cord were positive for CD90, CD49 and CD13 and could be induced to differentiate into osteogenic and adipogenic cells under proper inducing conditions. Results of EMG showed that in transplantation group, nerve was better regenerated (p<0.05). In histological study number of regenerated axons in transplantation group (283.3±2.35) were higher than sham group (239.6±15) (p<0.05) and significant differences in SFI (Sciatic Functional Index) were observed between groups (-100.37±35 and -84.1±7) (p<0.05). This research shows that transplantation of MSCS isolated from human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly proves nerve repair and functional recovery after severe sciatic nerve in rats.