Blood in women: New stem cell source

It has just been discovered, the woman's blood in the menstrual cycle contains a type of stem cell that has a much higher reproducibility than stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood and bone marrow.

According to a breakthrough study, experts in the United States have discovered in cells thickening the uterine wall during the menstrual cycle containing a new type of stem cell, called 'cell regeneration. Endometrial Regenerative Cells (ERC).

A: The form of mononuclear blood cells is isolated from menstrual blood;B: Morphology of mononuclear blood cells after 2 weeks of culture;C: Number of cells copied after 1 week;D: Number of cells copied after 2 weeks (Photo: BioMed Central)

According to the team, ERC cells are capable of developing into at least 9 different cell types , including the heart, liver and lungs. They can be used to treat and replace old or damaged cells.

This study was done by Dr. Xiaolong Meng of the Institute for Biological Information Research in Wichita, Kansas, and colleagues from Medistem Laboratories and the Universities of Alberta and Western Ontario.

Dr. Meng said: 'Currently, we are having difficulties in using stem cell therapies, such as those taken from bone marrow. These cells can be eliminated by the grafted human body and have limited ability to produce new cells. Now we have been able to overcome those difficulties by using cells from healthy women 'menstrual blood.'

ERC can be grown in a large-scale laboratory, capable of replicating 70 times in a very short period of time. This regeneration rate is much faster than those taken from umbilical cord blood and bone marrow.

Not only is the copy rate very high in a cycle of about 20 hours, ERC also produces growth factors at nearly 100,000 times higher than stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood.

According to the team, only 5 ml of menstrual blood is taken from a healthy woman who also provides enough stem cells to produce heart cells after 2 weeks of culture.

Quang Thinh