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Periods provide stem cells hopes

15/11/2007

Blood shed during women's menstrual cycles could provide a new type of stem cell to treat damaged or old body tissue, a new study says.

Researchers are excited about the discovery as the new stem cells may not encounter the same problems as existing varieties.

Menstrual blood stem cells were also found to be able to develop into at least nine different cells including beating heart cells.

Stem cells are very early cells that can develop into almost all types of cell and tissue.

Scientists are attempting to use them to regenerate diseased or damaged cells, tissues and organs, providing hope for patients and their families suffering from long-term, debilitating diseases such as Parkinson's.

They can be found in significant numbers in the developing fetus and umbilical cord blood. Some can also be retrieved from bone marrow but these can be difficult to isolate as they are present in very small numbers.

Bone marrow stem cells may also be rejected by the recipient and/or have limited potential to generate new tissue.

Dr Xiaolong Meng of the Bio-Communications Research Institute in Wichita, Kansas, said that the use of menstrual blood is "a possible new way to overcome these difficulties".

His research team collected menstrual blood from healthy women volunteers.

The findings, published in the Journal of Translational Medicine, revealed that cells collected from the blood replicated almost 70 times in a very rapid time span.

This rate is far faster than cells which are currently used from umbilical cord blood and bone marrow.

The cells developed into at least nine different cells including heart, liver and lung - prompting the researchers to name them endometrial regenerative cells.

Just 5ml of menstrual blood collected from a healthy woman provided cells which after two weeks of culture provided beating heart cells.

The researchers conclude that the cells could be cultured at a large scale and hold many potential uses.