Stem cells are like the building blocks of the body. They can change into many different kinds of cells.
Now, a group of researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital has found a way to use these special cells to possibly bring back fertility in women who can’t have children naturally.
They’ve shown that this might be possible in mice, and this is a big step forward. Their work has been published in the journal eBioMedicine.
Understanding the Issue
Some women can’t have children because their ovaries don’t work anymore. This can be due to cancer treatments or genetic problems. About 5% of women are in this situation.
As more young adults are diagnosed with cancer, it’s expected that the number of women facing this problem will also go up. When ovaries fail, they stop making important hormones and eggs for pregnancy.
At the moment, there’s no treatment that can make the ovaries start working again. Women with this issue have to use eggs from a donor or ones they had frozen earlier if they want to have a baby.
Losing the ability to make these hormones can also lead to other health problems. Women may lose bone mass, and they may also have problems with their sex life and heart health.
Taking artificial hormones can help, but we’re not sure if it’s safe to use these for a long time, especially in young people.
The Study and Its Findings
In this research, scientists worked with a type of cell that can turn into any kind of cell in the body. These are called pluripotent stem cells.
The researchers took these stem cells and changed them into cells that can make hormones and eggs, just like healthy ovaries do.
They then put these stem cells into mice that could not have babies because their ovaries had stopped working.
Amazingly, these stem cells helped the mice to start making hormones again and even have baby mice of their own.
What was even more surprising was that when the scientists injected the stem cells into just one ovary, the other ovary also started working again and making eggs.
Dr. Raymond Manohar Anchan, who led the research, found this discovery particularly interesting. He said, “The stem cells must be secreting a factor promoting this healing process.
We’re now looking at what the factor or factors might be.” This means that the stem cells might be releasing something that helps the ovaries start working again.
A Promising Future But More Research Needed
These findings are very exciting because they give hope to women who can’t have children due to their ovaries not working.
However, it’s important to remember that this study was done in mice. We don’t know if it will work in humans. There might also be ethical issues with using these stem cells to have babies.
The researchers also don’t know if the baby mice born from these special stem cells are healthy. They’re currently doing more studies to find out more about this.
In conclusion, while this research is still in its early stages, it brings us one step closer to potentially restoring fertility in women with ovarian failure.
It’s a sign of the huge potential that stem cells could have in treating medical conditions that were previously thought to be incurable.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and scientists find how COVID-19 damages the heart.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about Aspirin linked to higher risk of heart failure, and results showing this drug could reduce heart disease, fatty liver, obesity.
The study was published in eBioMedicine.
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