Stem cell therapy is a field of regenerative medicine that uses stem cells to repair or repair tissues and organs that are damaged by disease, injury, or aging. Stem cells can be obtained from different sources, such as bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, peripheral blood, adipose tissue, placenta and embryo. In these cases it has been observed that the exchange of maternal cells exceeds all the benefits known to modern people. There is a fascinating biological phenomenon called fetal microchimerism that has been the subject of research in recent years. This term refers to the presence of fetal cells in the mother’s body after pregnancy, and is believed to have important implications for the health of the mother and her children. Fetal cells have been found in the blood, skin, brain, liver and other tissues. According to many researches, the miracle behind this miracle is that these cells are pluripotent and have the ability to regenerate certain tissues and organs of the mother, as well as to heal diseases. How is this produced? What are its applications?
How is it done?
The process of transferring fetal cells from the child to the mother takes place early in pregnancy, mainly in the first trimester, although it has been shown up to the end of pregnancy, that is, nine months. to be born The novelty is that it has been discovered that these fetal cells can remain in the mother’s body for a long time, even indefinitely. In fact, some cells can persist in the mother’s body for decades after birth, even though the mother begins to eliminate them after the birth.
Thus, microchimerism means the presence of cells of a different type in an organism that is its own. In these cases, during pregnancy, fetal cells can migrate through the placenta to the mother’s body, where they can reside in various tissues and organs. These cells, called fetal microchimaeras, can persist in the mother’s body for decades after birth. Similarly, cells from the mother can also pass into the blood of the fetus and establish themselves in different tissues and organs of the fetus.
Pluripotent stem cells are types of cells that have not yet been assigned a specific cell type, which allows them to have the ability to become any type of cell. When these cells reach the mother’s body, they can be transformed into the type of cell that is required according to the specific needs of the body. This has the potential to cure diseases and repair organs in the future.
Medical applications
This is not the first time that researchers have discovered that stem cells in the amniotic fluid, as well as in the umbilical cord blood, can become specialized cells and can become weapons against certain diseases, such as cancer or heart disease.
In the case of stem cells present, microchimerisms are being investigated in a variety of medical conditions. For example, it has been shown that fetal cells can play a role in protecting the mother against certain autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Also, research has been developed to show that these cells also participate in the regeneration of the heart of women who have suffered from heart disease. When analyzing these cardiac cells, it was noticed that they contain chromosomes. And that it is only for men, signifying that she is from the womb with a male.
In addition, similar cases of regeneration in other female organs, such as the liver, kidneys and brain, have been documented, suggesting that they may play an important role in the prevention of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
In addition, it has been found that the presence of fetal cells in the mother’s breast can be associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. This happens because the immune system recognizes the baby’s cells as their own, because they share half of their genetic material with the mother, and as foreign because the other half comes from the father’s genetic code. This property can enable the training of the immune system, which learns to recognize and distinguish between cells that are similar but genetically different. The same process that happens in cancer cells that crack its code.
On the other hand, although less information is available on how fetal microchimerism affects children, research shows that cells passed from mother to child also try to contribute to the child’s well-being. For example, it has been shown that in children with diabetes, maternal cells that are transferred to the fetus try to repair damaged tissue in the pancreas.
Finally, although more research is still needed to fully understand the effects of fetal microchimerism on maternal and offspring health, these findings suggest that fetal cells can play an important role in maternal health after pregnancy and open the door to new treatments in various diseases. .
