The birth of a child is one of the happiest moments in the life of every family, as well as an important aspect of the personal realization of a man or woman. However, in today’s world, almost every 7th couple has problems conceiving, and in total about 160 million people in different countries suffer from infertility.
Modern medicine has a wide range of conservative and surgical methods of infertility treatment. But, unfortunately, sometimes even with the use of in vitro fertilization, not all women are able to get pregnant. Therefore, in the last decade, both in the treatment of infertility and to improve the results of in vitro fertilization, stem cells have been increasingly used.
The Institute of Cell Therapy has developed complex programs to increase fertility in men and women with the use of stem cells.
The mechanism of therapeutic action of stem cells in infertility:
- Replacement of damaged cells and restoration of the structure and function of the affected organ.
- Activation of so-called “sleeping cells” that have stopped undergoing normal cell cycles.
- Secretion of biologically active substances (cytokines, enzymes) that stimulate the functioning of the ovaries in women and testicles in men.
- Restoration of intercellular interaction, resulting in increased sensitivity of cell receptors to hormones, growth factors, drugs, activation of the processes of cell division and maturation.
Stem cells in the treatment of female infertility are most often used in the syndrome of premature ovarian failure and insufficient thickness of the uterine endometrium for fertilization.
In premature ovarian failure, stem cells stimulate the restoration of ovarian function (production of female sex hormones, normalization of the menstrual cycle and maturation of oocytes) and increase the chances for pregnancy.
Stem cells also stimulate endometrial repair, which is necessary for implantation of a fertilized egg, including in vitro fertilization.
The use of stem cells in male infertility helps to normalize the functioning of the endocrine, nervous and immune systems and quantitative and qualitative parameters of the spermogram.
Scientists are also working on methods for obtaining spermatozoa from stem cells, which would avoid the use of donor biomaterial. To date, it is known that spermatozoa were obtained from stem cells in mice and primates, moreover, mice from such gametes even gave birth to healthy offspring, which also gave an offspring.
