Stem Cell Therapy May Restore Fertility After Ovarian Failure
Stem cell therapy could be used to restore fertility and healthy hormone levels after ovarian failure – due to a genetic condition or following chemotherapy – according to results from a preclinical study in mice. The research was conducted by a team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and published in eBioMedicine.
Premature ovarian failure impacts approximately five percent of people with ovaries, stemming from either cancer treatment or genetic issues.
there are currently no therapies available to restore fertility after chemotherapy. Instead, people with ovarian failure rely on freezing their own eggs or embryos prior to treatment or using donor eggs in order to have children.
As well as impacting fertility, ovarian failure is associated with other health issues – such as loss of bone mass and poor heart health – due to falling hormone levels. Hormone replacement therapy is a treatment option, but limited data on the potential health consequences associated with its long-term use has driven calls for therapies that preserve or restore ovarian function.
The new study used cells from mouse ovaries – called granulosa cells – to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can differentiate into any cell type. In the lab, the granulosa-derived iPSCs preferentially differentiate into ovarian cells, perhaps due to their epigenetic memory. The researchers illustrated that these ovarian cells could produce physiological concentrations of the reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone, and were also able to differentiate into egg cells.
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