Earthworm as a Peripheral Nerve Regeneration Biomaterial: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Many Earthworm (EW) related effects have been introduced so far including, wound healing effects as well as anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombosis effects. EW biomaterials could also be a therapeutic agent for various neuroinflammatory conditions. Besides, indigenous people traditionally have practiced the extraction of medicinal compounds from EW. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the EW capacities in nerve regeneration. An exhaustive literature search was performed using databases including PUBMED, SCOPUS, Web of Science and GOOGLE. A total of 13 studies were included. All of them included an animal model or were cell culture studies between 2009 and 2018. The description of these findings is given in table 1. Despite the limited number of publications and their controversial results, EW can be regarded as a new promising option for nerve repair, given the several pieces of evidence confirming the effects of EW biomaterials on nerve injury and regeneration.

Keywords

• Earthworm
• Nerve regeneration
• Lumbricusin
• Lumbrokinase
• Traditional medicine