Sciatic nerve-conditioned medium with the addition of Croton blanchetianus Baill essential oil promotes morphological plasticity in spinal cord cultured cells

Luciana Cristina Borges Fernandes,Cynthia Cavalcanti De Albuquerque,José Rodolfo Lopes De Paiva Cavalcanti,Francisco Felipe Maia Da Silva,Carlos Iberê Alves Freitas,Eduardo Pereira De Azevedo,Francisco Fábio Mesquita Oliveira,Lucídio Clebeson De Oliveira,Fausto Pierdoná Guzen,Rodrigo Freire Oliveira,Salvador Viana Gomes Junior,Ianara Mendonça Da Costa,Jael Soares Batista,Francisca Idalina Neta

doi:10.33448/rsd-v10i5.14591

Abstract

Spinal cord injury is a devastating condition that leads to significant disabilities. The treatment for this problem is a challenge in neuroscience, and it is necessary to combine different strategies to obtain functional recovery outcomes. There are many herbal natural products, such as Croton blanchetianus Baill (CB) essential oil, a Brazilian semi-arid bush with neuroprotective substances tested in regeneration processes and synaptic plasticity. Thus, this study analyzed the cellular plasticity of spinal cord neurons and glial cells in the presence of sciatic nerve-conditioned medium (SNCM) before the addition of CB essential oil. Cell morphology was assessed over 96 hours, and immunocytochemistry analyses were conducted for GFAP, GAP-43 and NeuN. Photomicrographs were made by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Morphological analysis showed evident trophic development in the groups that received CB essential oil (P>0.000), immunoreactivity for GFAP, GAP-43 and NeuN and the plasticity of these cells were confirmed by SEM. This pioneer study about the plasticity of spinal cord neurons and glial cells opens new possibilities and techniques with essential oils for cell therapy in the presence of SNCM, which promoted neuroprotective action.

Highlights

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is defined as a central nervous system injury that results in a large functional deficit
Taking into account the neuroscience necessity to understand and provide therapeutic strategies that enable central axonal regeneration and considering the potential neuroprotective effect of Croton blanchetianus Baill (CB) essential oil, this study aims to evaluate their effects on the central nervous system (CNS) cell plasticity
These results demonstrate that good growth was probably due to the sciatic nerve-conditioned medium (SNCM) nutritional contributions, which created a favorable cellular ambient for cell regulation and that promotes growth (Hall, 2001), because Schwann cells retain their biochemical properties during regeneration in the CNS environment (Chen et al, 2005; Guzen et al, 2009, 2012; Schwab, 2002)

Summary

Introduction

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is defined as a central nervous system injury that results in a large functional deficit. In addition to primary mechanical trauma to the spinal cord (SC) axons, there is rupture of blood vessels and cell membrane, resulting in a cascade process leading to a progressive secondary injury which can lead to edema, ischemia, inflammation, and cytokine production. Oxidative stress and glial scarring cause irreversible tissue necrosis and neuronal death (Huang et al, 2007; Lin et al, 2011; Ormond et al, 2014). For this reason, when investigating therapeutic strategies, it is imperative to explore interventions that minimize these effects and promote morphological and functional recovery (Marcos et al, 2016; Souza et al, 2010). The major negative effect on cells by the secondary lesion of SCI, is the release of free radicals that attack the cell membrane and this mechanism, in turn, modify cell components such as unsaturated fatty acids by lipid peroxidation process (Cemil et al, 2010; Huang et al, 2007)

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