Abstract:
Introduction: The human brain is composed of a complex network of cells that interact with each other through direct and indirect pathways. Studies about culture of human brain cells have been limited to postmortem experiments and only more recently have been obtained from living patients. These harvests of human nerve tissue samples occurred only during neurosurgeries for control of refractory epilepsy and resection of brain tumors. Methods: We describe in this work a technique for culture of nerve cells removed during urgency neurosurgeries in injured brains (patients who suffered traumatic brain injury and needed surgery), aiming the culture of injured cells for later study of nerve regeneration. These samples of nerve tissue were collected from carefully selected patients: in cases of depressed skull fracture with laceration of the dura-mater and cerebral cortex, with spontaneous exit (caused by trauma) of brain tissue, which obviously required neurosurgery; and in patients who presented traumatic intracranial hematomas with subcortical component and expansive effect, requiring surgical removal through a small opening in the cerebral cortex, known as corticectomy, for drainage of the clot. After obtaining, this material was immediately stored and sent to treatment and plating, being maintained in culture medium in a CO2 incubator. Results: In the medium, the presence of neurons and glial cells can be verified few days later. Conclusions: It is concluded that is possible to culture injured nerve cells through the technique employed, thus opening a field of research for the study of substances with presumed neuroprotective function.
Keywords: Cell culture techniques. Craniocerebral trauma. Neuroglia. Neurons
Authors:
Starlynn Freire dos Santos;
Ianara Mendonça da Costa;
Francisca Idalina Neta;
Eudes Euler Sousa Lucena;
José Rodolfo Lopes de Paiva Cavalcanti;
Dinalva Brito de Queiroz;
Amália Cinthia Meneses do Rêgo;
Francisco Irochima Pinheiro;
Irami Araújo-Filho and Fausto Pierdoná Guzen