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This study aims to evaluate and compare cellular therapy with human Wharton's jelly (WJ) mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and neural precursors (NPs) in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a preclinical model of Multiple Sclerosis. MSCs were isolated from WJ by an explant technique, differentiated to NPs, and characterized by cytometry and immunocytochemistry analysis after ethical approval. Forty-eight rats were EAE-induced by myelin basic protein and Freund's complete adjuvant. Forty-eight hours later, the animals received intraperitoneal injections of 250 ng/dose of Bordetella pertussis toxin. Fourteen days later, the animals were divided into the following groups: a. non-induced, induced: b. Sham, c. WJ-MSCs, d. NPs, and e. WJ-MSCs plus NPs. 1 × 105. Moreover, the cells were placed in a 10 µL solution and injected via a stereotaxic intracerebral ventricular injection. After ten days, the histopathological analysis for H&E, Luxol, interleukins, and CD4/CD8 was carried out. Statistical analyses demonstrated a higher frequency of clinical manifestation in the Sham group (15.66%) than in the other groups; less demyelination was seen in the treated groups than the Sham group (WJ-MSCs, p = 0.016; NPs, p = 0.010; WJ-MSCs + NPs, p = 0.000), and a lower cellular death rate was seen in the treated groups compared with the Sham group. A CD4/CD8 ratio of <1 showed no association with microglial activation (p = 0.366), astrocytes (p = 0.247), and cell death (p = 0.577) in WJ-MSCs. WJ-MSCs and NPs were immunomodulatory and neuroprotective in cellular therapy, which would be translated as an adjunct in demyelinating diseases.

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Identifying target microRNAs (miRNAs) might serve as a basis for developing advanced therapies for Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease. This review aims to identify the main therapeutic targets of miRNAs that can potentially act in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The publication research was conducted from May 2021 to March 2022, selected from Scopus, PubMed, Embase, OVID, Science Direct, LILACS, and EBSCO. A total of 25 studies were selected from 1549 studies evaluated. The total number of miRNAs as therapeutic targets evidenced was 90 for AD and 54 for PD. An average detection accuracy of above 84% for the miRNAs was observed in the selected studies of AD and PD. The major signatures were miR-26b-5p, miR-615-3p, miR-4722-5p, miR23a-3p, and miR-27b-3p for AD and miR-374a-5p for PD. Six miRNAs of intersection were found between AD and PD. This article identified the main microRNAs as selective biomarkers for diagnosing PD and AD and therapeutic targets through a systematic review and meta-analysis. This article can act as a microRNA guideline for laboratory research and pharmaceutical industries for treating Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and offers the opportunity to evaluate therapeutic interventions earlier in the disease process.

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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, characterized as an inflammatory demyelinating disease. Given the need for improvements in MS treatment, many studies are mainly conducted through preclinical models such as experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). This study analyzes the relationships between histopathological and clinical score findings at EAE. Twenty-three female Rattus norvegicus Lewis rats from 6 to 8 weeks were induced to EAE. Nineteen rats underwent EAE induction distributed in six groups to establish the evolution of clinical signs, and four animals were in the control group. Bordetella pertussis toxin (PTX) doses were 200, 250, 300, 350 and 400 ng. The clinical scores of the animals were analyzed daily, from seven to 24 days after induction. The brains and spinal cords were collected for histopathological analyses. The results demonstrated that the dose of 250 ng of PTX induced a higher clinical score and reduction in weight. All induced groups demonstrated leukocyte infiltration, activation of microglia and astrocytes, and demyelinated plaques in the brains in histopathology. It was concluded that the dose of 250 ng and 350 ng of PTX were the best choices to trigger the brain and spinal cord demyelination lesions and did not correlate with clinical scores.

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Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder. Levodopa (L-DOPA) remains the gold-standard drug available for treating PD. Curcumin has many pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-amyloid, and antitumor properties. Copolymers composed of Poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) and biodegradable polyesters such as Poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) can self-assemble into nanoparticles (NPs). This study describes the development of NH2-PEO-PCL diblock copolymer positively charged and modified by adding glutathione (GSH) on the outer surface, resulting in a synergistic delivery of L-DOPA curcumin that would be able to pass the blood-brain barrier. Methods: The NH2-PEO-PCL NPs suspensions were prepared by using a nanoprecipitation and solvent displacement method and coated with GSH. NPs were submitted to characterization assays. In order to ensure the bioavailability, Vero and PC12 cells were treated with various concentrations of the loaded and unloaded NPs to observe cytotoxicity. Results: NPs have successfully loaded L-DOPA and curcumin and were stable after freeze-drying, indicating advancing into in vitro toxicity testing. Vero and PC12 cells that were treated up to 72 h with various concentrations of L-DOPA and curcumin-loaded NP maintained high viability percentage, indicating that the NPs are biocompatible. Conclusions: NPs consisting of NH2-PEO-PCL were characterized as potential formulations for brain delivery of L-DOPA and curcumin. The results also indicate that the developed biodegradable nanomicelles that were blood compatible presented low cytotoxicity.

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PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate a cell therapy strategy with human neural precursor cells (hNPCs) to treat diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Wistar rats induced to diabetes by injecting streptozotocin. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) were isolated, expanded, and seeded onto a biopolymer substrate to develop neurospheres and obtain the hNPCs. The animals were divided into three groups: non-diabetic (ND) n = four, diabetic without treatment (DM) n = nine, and diabetic with cell therapy (DM + hNPCs) n = nine. After 8 weeks of diabetes induction and DR characteristics installed, intravitreal injection of hNPCs (1 × 106 cell/µL) was performed in the DM + hNPCs group. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and Electroretinography (ERG) evaluations were conducted before and during diabetes and after cell therapy. Four weeks posttreatment, histopathological and immunohistochemistry analyses were performed. RESULTS: The repair of the retinal structures in the treated group (DM + hNPCs) was observed by increased thickness of neuroretinal layers, especially in the ganglion cell and photoreceptor layers, higher ERG oscillatory potentials (OPs) amplitudes, and transplanted hNPCs integration into the Retinal Pigment Epithelium. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that hNPCs reduced DR progression by a neuroprotective effect and promoted retinal repair, making them potential candidates for regenerating the neuroretinal tissue.

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BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells are pluripotent cells that have the ability to generate cells from a cell line or in other cell types from different tissues but from the same origin. Although those cells have more limited differentiation capacity than embryonic stem cells, they are easily obtained from somatic tissue and can be grown in large quantities. This characteristic of undifferentiated stem cells differentiating into different cell lines arouses strategies in regenerative medicine for the treatment of different diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases. AIM: To evaluate the cell differentiation capacity of human breastmilk stem cells for the three germ layers by a systematic review. METHODS: The searched databases were PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, and COCHRANE LIBRARY, published between 2007 and 2018 in the English language. All were in vitro studies for analysis of the "cell differentiation potential" in the literature using the keywords "human breastmilk," "stem cells," and keywords combined with the Boolean operator "NOT" were used to exclude those articles that had the word "CANCER" and their respective synonyms, which were previously consulted according to medical subject heading terms. PRISMA 2009 guidelines were followed in this study. RESULTS: A total of 315 titles and abstracts of articles were examined. From these, 21 were in common with more than one database, leaving 294 articles for analysis. Of that total, five publications met the inclusion criteria. When analyzing the publications, it was demonstrated that human breastmilk stem cells have a high cellular plasticity, exhibiting the ability to generate cells of all three germ layers, endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm, demonstrating their stemness. Those cells expressed the genes, TRA-1-60/81, octamer-binding transcription factor 4, and NANOG, of which NANOG, a critical regulator for self-renewal and maintenance, was the most highly expressed. Those cells have the ability to differentiate in vitro into adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteocytes, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, and neurons as well hepatocytes, ß-pancreatic cells, and cardiomyocytes. CONCLUSION: Although the literature has been scarce, the pluripotentiality of these cells represents great potential for tissue engineering and cellular therapy. Further studies for safe clinical translation are needed.