New Delhi: Stem Cell therapy is proving lighthouse for those infertile couples who have exhausted all available means to achieve bundles of joy but no luck and light at the end of the tunnel. IVF coupled with stem cell therapy promises to be a certain light of hope for childless couples. Stem cell intervention is packing a punch in IVF to keep failure of cycles at bay. The future in infertility treatment is marriage between stem cell therapy and IVF.
The conception rates among women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI)/ Decreased ovarian reserve / premature ovarian failure remain extremely low. To achieve a successful pregnancy, most of these women have to receive donor oocytes through IVF treatment. Ovarian administration of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) & own bone marrow derived stem cells has been recently applied to enhance the ovulatory function in women with poor ovarian response.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), a preparation of autologous plasma concentrate, can supply a broad spectrum of growth factors and regenerative compounds at a high concentration, which is potent to the stimulation of tissue regeneration at the cellular level . Direct injection of PRP into the stroma of poor responder ovaries leads to an increase in the number of follicles and eggs retrieved
Talking to Medicare News, Prabhu Mishra, President, IASRM (International Association of Stemcell & Regenerative Medicine) said, ‘Intraovarian PRP administration is a new therapeutic approach for patients with POI. However, the effect of PRP on regeneration of ovarian function does not seem to be optimistic, as only a handful of reports claimed a successful outcome especially in case of fertility management, but it may be much effective for menopausal symptoms. There is need of controlled and comparative studies between PRP and various source of stemcells especially bone marrow derived stemcells and mesenchymal Stem cells. PRP and BMAC Therapy have also shown some initial results in endometrial regeneration, endomtritis, vaginal atrophy, stress urinary incontinence. Endometriosis is the disease where still stemcell research is in very infancy stage or lack of studies.
Prabhu Mishra, also an ace regenerative medicine scientist and medtech entrepreneur further said, ‘we have collaborated with various doctors and scientists around the world for these studies and published few initial studies. We have also written book Stemcell & Regenerative Medicine in Infertility along with our colleague and vice president, dr Diana Mihai from Romania. We have also started various short term and long-term training courses in stem cell & Regenerative Medicine. He also added Dr Attila Fogarassy and Dr Maria Mihai from Romania are our collaborators and we are working in future directions. We have collaborated in Jordan with Dr Ihsan Naimat, Egypt , Poland , Italy and various other parts of world.’
Mr Mishra is sanguine about stem cell therapy proving hope technology in a number of conditions including infertility. Sounding super confident, Mr Mishra said, ‘Regenerative Medicine is definitely moving with high pace and advancing medical science. Regenerative medicine (RM) encompasses an emerging field of medicine with the goal of replacing, engineering, or regenerating human cells, tissues, or organs lost or injured due to age, disease, or congenital defects to restore or establish normal function.’
