Negin Afsharzadeh - Research Center for Plant Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
Fahimeh Lavi Arab - Immunology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Mahmoud Mahmoudi - Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Mojtaba Sankian - Immunobiochemistry laboratory, Immunology Research Center, Bu-Ali Research Institute, Mashhad, Iran.
Leila Samiei - Research Center for Plant Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
Karim Nikkhah - Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory autoimmune central nervous system (CNS) disorder causing myelin sheet and axonal degeneration. Currently, pathogenesis of MS is unclear and there is no genuine therapy for this. Nowadays, Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) have attracted great interest because of immunomodulatory effects in a MS disease. Hypericum perforatum (HP) or st.john’s wort is a pharmaceutical plant with anti-inflammatory properties which plant Tissue culture as a technique could improve its pharmacological profile. Due to evaluate therapeutic potential of (HP) extract, plant callus (mass of plant parenchyma cell derived from tissue culture) extract exhibited some different anti-inflammatory compounds which are not exist in main plants. The effects of these extracts on MSCs were investigated which extract has more anti-inflammatory properties. Material & method: Adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) from MS patients, cultured in 6-wells plate and treated with 0,5and 10μg/ml extracts for 24h also control group was remained untreated. Proliferation was measured with MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis was assessed to measure Tregs-cell populations. Result: In This study, we observed a significantly higher percentage of Tregs cells in callus extract than plant extract. Our data showed that in 10 μg/ml extracts, callus increased Tregscell population about 3 fold and proliferation ratio about 1.5 fold more than main plant. Also there is positive correlation between increasing of both extracts concentrations and population of Tregscell. In the same concentration, callus extract is more effective than plant extract.Conclusion: This results indicated that high concentration of callus extract could be a candidate for use in MS patients who under MSCs therapy.

Multiple sclerosis, Mesenchymal stem cell, St. john’s wort, Callus extract