Properties and Therapeutic Potential of Human Amniotic Membrane

Abstract

Worldwide a lot of people suffering from massive burns, skin defects/diseases and surgical wound associated skin dysfunctions each year require rapid amniotic grafts. Amniotic Membrane (AM) has been employed in the treatment of wounds for almost 100 year; beginning with early application of AM obtained from labor and delivery to various types of burns and wounds. Amniotic membrane is rich in collagen and growth factors that support the healing process. The avascular, low immunogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-scarring and wound healing properties of amniotic membrane make it valuable in a wide range of regenerative medicine applications. Nowaday, AM has become an important source of stem cell as well. Amniotic membrane is a promoter of epithelialization and is a non-tumorigenic tissue and its use has no ethical problems. Because of its attractive properties, AM has been applied in several surgical procedures related to ocular surface reconstruction and the genito-urinary tract, skin, head and neck, among others. So far, the best known and most auspicious applications of AM are ocular surface reconstruction, skin applications and tissue engineering. Here, we provide an overview of the properties and therapeutic potential of AM.

A Review on Modifications of Amniotic Membrane for Biomedical Applications

“…It consists of two layers: chorion and amnion. The outer layer (chorion) is in contact with the mother’s cells and separated from the inner layer (amnion) by a jelly-like matrix ( Mamede et al, 2012 ; Islam et al, 2015 ). AM is composed of an epithelial layer, basement membrane, and three layers of stroma (a compact, a fibroblast, and a sponge layer) ( Mamede et al, 2012 ; Figure 1 ).…”

“…Although the primary function of this thin, transparent, resistant, and avascular membrane is to protect the fetus from unwanted substances, bacterial infection, and trauma during pregnancy ( Mamede et al, 2012 ; Castellanos et al, 2017 ), it is not just a simple barrier. One of its other functions is to transport water and soluble substances to the fetus and provide growth factors and essential cytokines for it ( Mamede et al, 2012 ; Islam et al, 2015 ).…”

“…The first introduction of AM to the medical world was attributed to its similarity to human skin when Davies introduced the use of the AM in 1910 as a skin transplant. Following that in 1913, Stern and Sabella utilized AM for the treatment of skin burns and superficial wounds ( Islam et al, 2015 ). Since then, AM has been employed for numerous applications, including disorders associated with the urinary tract ( Barski et al, 2017 ; Fénelon et al, 2018 ), oral cavity ( Anisuzzaman et al, 2018 ; Farhadihosseinabadi et al, 2018 ), skin ( Orman et al, 2018 ), stomach ( Iravani et al, 2020 ), larynx ( Turchan et al, 2018 ), head and neck ( Şapte et al, 2017 ; Jorge et al, 2018 ), ocular surface ( Gheorghe et al, 2016 ; Nassif et al, 2016 ), pelvic and abdominal surgery ( Lau et al, 2020 ), and artificial vaginal reconstruction ( Mao et al, 2016 ; Figure 2 ).…”

Using of Amniotic Membrane Derivatives for the Treatment of Chronic Wounds

“…The fundamental mechanism of the therapeutic effect has not been fully undiscovered yet. The native human amniotic membrane contains plenty of growth factors including the epidermal growth factor (EGF), basal fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), keratinocyte growth factor, transforming growth (TGFa and TGFp), nerve growth factor, and hepatocyte growth factor [8,9], which are well-known for their crucial role in physiological processes leading to normal wound healing and tissue regeneration. Furthermore, it is a suitable natural scaffold for cell proliferation, and/or differentiation.…”

The Efficacy of Topical Combination Amniotic Membrane Stem Cell Metabolite Product (AMSC-MP) and Vitamin E after Microneedling in Photoaging

“…The function of growth factors has been proven in wound healings and its use for skin rejuvenation is now widely studied. 4 Ultraviolet radiation which is one of the causes of extrinsic aging as it promotes the formation of free radicals or Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Therefore, antioxidants are useful in this case in preventing cell damage and are expected to inhibit the aging process.…”