Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation restores damaged ovaries.
Ovarian injury because of chemotherapy can decrease the levels of sexual hormones and potentia generandi of patients, thereby greatly reducing quality of life. The goal of this study was to investigate which transplantation method for human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUMSCs) can recover ovarian function that has been damaged by chemotherapy. A rat model of ovarian injury was established using an intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide. Membrane-labelled HUMSCs were subsequently injected directly into ovary tissue or tail vein. The distribution of fluorescently labelled HUMSCs, estrous cycle, sexual hormone levels, and potentia generandi of treated and control rats were then examined. HUMSCs injected into the ovary only distributed to the ovary and uterus, while HUMSCs injected via tail vein were detected in the ovary, uterus, kidney, liver and lung. The estrous cycle, levels of sex hormones and potentia generandi of the treated rats were also recovered to a certain degree. Moreover, in some transplanted rats, fertility was restored and their offspring developed normally. While ovary injection could recover ovarian function faster, both methods produced similar results in the later stages of observation. Therefore, our results suggest that transplantation of HUMSCs by tail vein injection represents a minimally invasive and effective treatment method for ovarian injury.
Medical College of Shaoguan University, Shaoguan, GuangDong, China.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, GuangDong, China.
Shao-Fang
SF
Zhu
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Yuebei People's Hospital of Shaoguan, Shaoguan, GuangDong, China.
Hong-Bo
HB
Hu
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Yuebei People's Hospital of Shaoguan, Shaoguan, GuangDong, China.
Hong-Yan
HY
Xu
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, GuangDong, China.
Xia-Fei
XF
Fu
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, GuangDong, China.
Dong-Xian
DX
Peng
Medical College of Shaoguan University, Shaoguan, GuangDong, China.
Wei-Yan
WY
Su
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, GuangDong, China.
Yuan-Li
YL
He
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001835:Body Weight; D002453:Cell Cycle; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D048430:Cell Shape; D005260:Female; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000473:pathology; D010053:Ovary / Q000473:pathology*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell; ovarian function; umbilical cord