Effects of stem cells on improving fertility and ovarian follicles
Effects of stem cells on improving fertility and ovarian follicles
Mehdi Narimani,1Azra Mahmoudi,2Zahra Talkhabi,3Marzieh Ashouri,4Neda Baghban,5,*
1. Student Research Committee, bushehr University of Medical Sciences, bushehr, Iran 2. Student Research Committee, bushehr University of Medical Sciences, bushehr, Iran 3. Student Research Committee, bushehr University of Medical Sciences, bushehr, Iran 4. Student Research Committee, bushehr University of Medical Sciences, bushehr, Iran 5. Student Research Committee, bushehr University of Medical Sciences, bushehr, Iran
Introduction: The major functions of the ovaries are to govern the health of the female by regulating endocrine status and the production of mature oocytes. Female sex hormone secretion and reproductive ability decrease with aging. One of the ovarian diseases is Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) in which ovarian function is lost before 40 and causes infertility. The percentage of POI is increasing every year. Therefore, it is important to find a treatment for this disorder. In this regard, many studies have been recently conducted on the effectiveness of stem cells in the treatment of ovarian ageing. This research is amid to review these studies and discuss the stem cells properties, which are effective in improving ovarian function.
Methods: In this review study, after searching through databases of PubMed and goggle scholar, 9 articles were finally selected to study. the focus of these articles is on the effects of stem cells on fertility and Ovarian follicles.
Results: A recent study reported that MSCs repair injured cells via paracrine activity or direct cell-to-cell interaction. MSCs can stimulate tissue regeneration by promoting angiogenesis and cell viability via paracrine activity through cytokines and extracellular vesicles. Various studies suggested interesting interaction between the paracrine effect of MSCs and the cell surrounding. Various types of MSCs derived from different resources such as umbilical cord-derived MSCs, adipocyte-derived MSCs and bone marrow-derived MSCs have been applied in the treatment of a variety of women's infertility disorders, including premature ovarian failure. Human placental MSCs (hPMSCs) can inhibit oxidative stress and apoptosis, thereby improving ovarian function. Paracrine signaling is a key mechanism whereby Human placental MSCs (hPMSCs) promote endometrial repair via the release of key bioactive molecules but safety concerns in using allogenic MSC as a biological drug remain.
Conclusion: according to the existing studies, ovarian aging and the decline in fertility that occurs in women over 40 with age is an inevitable issue that led researchers to look for ways to postpone this issue. Various methods have been proposed, including the use of MSCs, and animal model studies have been carried out in this field, but more studies and clinical trials are needed to be sure of the lack of complications of the methods or the definite effect.