Histological experimental study on the effect of stem cell therapy on adriamycin induced chemobrain

GABA Administration Ameliorates the Toxicity of Doxorubicin on CSF and the Brain of Albino Rats

Background

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain and is a non-proteinogenic amino acid. Doxorubcin (DOX) or adriamycin is one of the most potent chemotherapy drugs for breast cancer.

Purpose

This study focused on diminishing the brain injury and neurotoxicity of doxorubicin (DOX) by GABA administration.

Methods

Rats were randomly divided into four groups (8 rats each), which were the control group, DOX group (3 mg/kg for 4 weeks, then 2 mg/kg for 2 weeks), GABA group (2 mg/kg for 21 days), and DOX + GABA group (treated as the second and third groups). Neurotoxicity and brain injury were assessed by determining CSF biomarkers, serum inflammatory markers, and histopathological evaluation of the cerebral cortex.

Results

DOX treatment significantly increased the levels of all CSF biomarkers (S100B, IL-1β, ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), spectrin breakdown products (SBDP145), and C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and all inflammatory markers (IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ), causing extensive neutrophilic infiltration and great alteration in the cerebral cortex architecture as evidence of neurotoxicity. The oral administration of GABA significantly reduced the levels of all CSF biomarkers and inflammatory markers and restored the normal architecture of the cerebral cortex, with observed ameliorations in neutrophilic infiltration.

Conclusion

GABA administration can ameliorate neurotoxicity and protect the brain against the negative effects of DOX treatment.

Psychobiotic Effects of Multi-Strain Probiotics Originated from Thai Fermented Foods in a Rat Model

This work aimed to investigate the psychobiotic effects of six bacterial strains on the mind and behavior of male Wistar rats. The probiotic (PRO) group (n=7) were rats pre-treated with antibiotics for 7 days followed by 14-day probiotic administration, antibiotics (ANT) group (n=7) were rats treated with antibiotics for 21 days without probiotics. The control (CON) group (n=7) were rats that received sham treatment for 21 days. The six bacterial strains with probiotic properties were mostly isolated from Thai fermented foods; Pedicoccus pentosaceus WS11, Lactobacillus plantarum SK321, L. fermentum SK324, L. brevis TRBC 3003, Bifidobacterium adolescentis TBRC 7154 and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis TBRC 375. The probiotics were freeze-dried into powder (6×109 CFU/5 g) and administered to the PRO group via oral gavage. Behavioral tests were performed. The PRO group displayed significantly reduced anxiety level and increased locomotor function using a marble burying test and open field test, respectively and significantly improved short-term memory performance using a novel object recognition test. Antibiotics significantly reduced microbial counts in rat feces in the ANT group by 100 fold compared to the PRO group. Probiotics significantly enhanced antioxidant enzymatic and non-enzymatic defenses in rat brains as assessed using catalase activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay, respectively. Probiotics also showed neuroprotective effects with less pyknotic cells and lower frequency of vacuolization in cerebral cortex. This multi-strain probiotic formulation from Thai fermented foods may offer a potential to develop psychobiotic-rich functional foods to modulate human mind and behaviors.

Stem cell therapies as a therapeutic option to counter chemo brain: a negative effect of cancer treatment

Chemo brain, a constellation of cognitive deficiencies followed by chemotherapy drugs, used to treat different types of cancers and adversely impacts the quality of life of a cancer survivor. The underlying mechanism of chemo brain remains vague, thus delaying the advancement of efficient treatments. Unfortunately, there is no US FDA approved medicine for chemo brain and often medicines considered for chemo brain are already the ones approved for other diseases. Nevertheless, researches exploring stem cell transplantation in different neurodegenerative diseases demonstrate that cellular transplantation could reverse chemotherapy-induced chemo brain. This review talks about the mechanism behind the cognitive impairments instigated by different chemotherapy drugs used in cancer treatment, and how stem cell therapy could be advantageous to overcome this disease.

Post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment in hematological patients: current understanding of chemobrain in hematology

Introduction: Cognitive impairment caused by chemotherapies, a condition known as chemobrain, is a possible side effect that affects alertness, learning, memory, and concentration.Areas covered: Chemobrain has been principally investigated as a possible side-effect among cancer patients. However, numerous drugs used to treat hematological malignancies can determine the appearance of chemobrain. In this review, we have examined some commonly used drugs for the treatment of hematological malignancies which are known to have a deleterious action on cognitive functions.Numerous mechanisms have been suggested, comprising the direct neurotoxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs, oxidative stress, genetic predisposition, cytokine-provoked damage, histone modifications, immune alteration, and the action of chemotherapeutic on trophic factors and structural proteins of brain cells.Expert commentary: Cognitive dysfunction provoked by the treatment of hematological diseases is an actual challenge in clinical practice. Actually, there are no totally efficient and innocuous treatments for this syndrome. It is important that further investigations specify the existence of predictors and gravity factors to pre- and post-therapy cognitive change and identify the influence of tumor treatments on the cognitive alterations in long-term, cancer survivors. Moreover, future studies are needed to analyze the interactions between genetic risk, amyloid accumulation, intrinsic brain networks, and chemotherapy.

Chemobrain as a Product of Growing Success in Chemotherapy - Focus on Glia as both a Victim and a Cure

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment or chemobrain is a frequent consequence of cancer treatment with many psychiatric features. Ironically, the increasing efficacy of chemotherapy leaves growing number of patients alive with chemobrain. Therefore, there is an urgent need for strategies capable of returning cancer survivors back to their pre-morbid quality of life. Molecular mechanisms of chemobrain are largely unknown. Over the last decade there was a lot of emphasis in preclinical research on inflammatory consequences of chemotherapy and oxidative stress but so far none of these approaches were translated into clinical scenario. The co-administration of chemotherapy with protective agents was evaluated preclinically but it should be introduced with caution as potential interference was not yet studied and that could blunt therapeutic efficacy. Stem cell-based regenerative medicine approach has so far been exploited very sparsely in the context of chemobrain and the focus was on indirect mechanisms or neuronal replacement in the hippocampus. However, there is evidence for widespread white matter abnormalities in patients with chemobrain. This is quite logical considering life-long proliferation and turnover of glial cells, which makes them vulnerable to chemotherapeutic agents. Feasibility of glia replacement has been established in mice with global dysmyelination where profound therapeutic effect has been observed but only in case of global cell engraftment (across the entire brain). While global glia replacement has been achieved in mice translation to clinical setting might be challenging due to much larger brain size. Therefore, a lot of attention should be directed towards the route of administration to accomplish widespread cell delivery. Techniques facilitating that broad cell distribution including intra-arterial and intrathecal methods should be considered as very compelling options. Summarizing, chemobrain is a rapidly growing medical problem and global glia replacement should be considered as worthwhile therapeutic strategy.

Stem Cell Therapies for the Resolution of Radiation Injury to the Brain

Purpose of review

To encapsulate past and current research efforts focused on stem cell transplantation strategies to resolve radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction.

Recent Findings

Transplantation of human stem cells in the irradiated brain was first shown to resolve radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction in a landmark paper by Acharya et al., appearing in PNAS in 2009. Since that time, work from the same laboratory as well as other groups have reported on the beneficial (as well as detrimental) effects of stem cell grafting after cranial radiation exposure. Improved learning and memory found many months after engraftment has since been associated with a preservation of host neuronal morphology, a suppression of neuroinflammation, improved myelination and increased cerebral blood flow. Interestingly, many (if not all) of these beneficial effects can be demonstrated by substituting stem cells with microvesicles derived from human stem cells during transplantation, thereby eliminating many of the more long-standing concerns related to immunorejection and teratoma formation.

Summary

Stem cell and microvesicle transplantation into the irradiated brain of rodents has uncovered some unexpected benefits that hold promise for ameliorating many of adverse neurocognitive complications associated with major cancer treatments. Properly developed, such approaches may provide much needed clinical recourse to millions of cancer survivors suffering from the unintended side effects of their cancer therapies.

Melatonin as a promising agent of regulating stem cell biology and its application in disease therapy

Stem cells have emerged as an important approach to repair and regenerate damaged tissues or organs and show great therapeutic potential in a variety of diseases. However, the low survival of engrafted stem cells still remains a major challenge for stem cell therapy. As a major hormone from the pineal gland, melatonin has been shown to play an important role in regulating the physiological and pathological functions of stem cells, such as promoting proliferation, migration and differentiation. Thus, melatonin combined with stem cell transplantation displayed promising application potential in neurodegenerative diseases, liver cirrhosis, wound healing, myocardial infarction, kidney ischemia injury, osteoporosis, etc. It exerts its physiological and pathological functions through its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptosis and anti-ageing properties. Here, we summarize recent advances on exploring the biological role of melatonin in stem cells, and discuss its potential applications in stem cell-based therapy.