Introduction: Peripheral nerves have limited self-restoration ability, but targeted nerve regeneration can be increased by growth factors, extracellular matrix addition, and stem cells. This study investigated the effects of umbilical cord stroma stem cells grown on nanopoly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds of Cichorium intybus L. to repair the severed sciatic nerve of male Wistar rats.
Methods: Isolation of umbilical cord stroma stem cells and primary culture were done. After extracting from Cichorium intybus L., a PLGA scaffold was fabricated. Forty-five adult male Wistar rats (230-260 g) were divided into nine groups (healthy control, sciatic nerve injury, sciatic nerve injury treated with umbilical cord cells, sciatic nerve injury treated with Cichorium intybus L., sciatic nerve injury treated with Cichorium intybus L.+umbilical cord cells, sciatic nerve injury treated with Cichorium intybus L.+PLGA scaffold, nerve injury treated with PLGA scaffold, nerve injury treated with PLGA scaffold+umbilical cord cells, and nerve injury treated with Cichorium intybus L.+PLGA scaffold+umbilical cord cells). After eight weeks of treatment, the evaluation of sciatic nerve damage repair included electrophysiological and sciatic functional indexes, tissue sampling and immunocytochemistry, and histopathological examination.
Results: In the group treated with Cichorium intybus L.+PLGA scaffold+umbilical cord cells, sciatic nerve repair was observed with an increase in nerve conduction velocity (m/s), amplitude muscle action potential (mV), number of vessels and fiber, most significant area of vessels, myelin, axon, and fiber (1000 μm²), and a decrease in statistic functional index (0 to -50) (p<0.0001).
Conclusion: It can be concluded that the transplantation of umbilical cord cells leads to the repair of the severed sciatic nerve. Also, the PLGA acts as a scaffolding to place cord stem cells and Cichorium intybus L.extract by reducing inflammation caused by surgery, and helps to recover faster.