Amniotic stem cells as a source of regenerative medicine to treat female infertility

Abstract

Impaired reproductive health is a worldwide problem that affects the psychological well-being of a society. Despite the technological developments to treat infertility, the global infertility rate is increasing significantly. Many infertility conditions are currently treated using various advanced clinical approaches such as intrauterine semination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and intracytoplasmic injection (ICSI). Nonetheless, clinical management of some conditions such as dysfunctional endometrium, premature ovarian failure, and ovarian physiological aging still pose significant challenges. Stem cells based therapeutic strategies have a long-standing history to treat many infertility conditions, but ethical restrictions do not allow the broad-scale utilization of adult mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs). Easily accessible, placental derived or amniotic stem cells present an invaluable alternative source of non-immunogenic and non-tumorigenic stem cells that possess multilineage potential. Given these characteristics, placental or amniotic stem cells (ASCs) have been investigated for therapeutic purposes to address infertility in the last decade. This study aims to summarize the current standing and progress of human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAECs), amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs), and amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSCs) in the field of reproductive medicine. The therapeutic potential of these cells to restore or enhance normal ovarian function and pregnancy outcomes are highlighted in this study.

Molecular Role of Asn680Ser and Asp37Glu Missense Variants in Saudi Women with Female Infertility and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

“…It is a common condition that affects both the male and female reproductive systems [1]. Currently, a substantial decline in the fertility rate has been observed globally [2]. The global prevalence of infertility in reproductive-aged women is one in every four couples in developing countries and one in every seven couples in the Western world [3].…”

AEC and AFMSC Transplantation Preserves Fertility of Experimentally Induced Rat Varicocele by Expressing Differential Regenerative Mechanisms

“…Based on this evidence, which have begun to highlight certain processes underlying the VAR pathological state, it is not surprising that a treatment method based on adultderived mesenchymal stem cells has been proposed to restore the spermatogenesis process disrupted by VAR [29,30]. Despite the encouraging immune paracrine therapeutic role of the widely available source of amniotic membrane and amniotic fluid derived cells [31][32][33][34][35], no evidence on male fertility has been collected to date, even though this stem cell source has already been proposed for restoring female reproductive outcomes by taking advantage of their paracrine, anti-inflammatory, and immune regulatory properties [36].…”