It’s a subject that disgusts men everywhere, but could end up saving their lives.
Scientists trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease are experimenting with an unlikely new source: menstrual blood.
It might be possible to “supercharge” a type of shapeshifting cell found in periods that can transform into any cell in the body.
In Alzheimer’s disease, these cells can develop into neurons and glial cells, which are damaged and die as the disease sets in, causing the memory loss and reduced cognitive functioning seen in patients.
Studies using menstrual blood stems began in 2007 after experts first determined that blood shed during the monthly cycle contained stem cells.
A more recent study found that stem cell therapy using menstrual blood stem cells, or “MenSCs,” cleared protein deposits between neurons and improved memory in mice with Alzheimer’s disease.
Additionally, MenSCs are more readily available than bone marrow currently used in the process.
Doctoral researcher Alice van der Schoot hailed MenSCs as a “game changer” because they double 19 hours faster, compared to the two to eight days for those taken from bone marrow.
Alzheimer’s disease causes abnormal deposits of proteins called plaques to build up inside the brain and disrupt cell function. Over time, this significantly impairs brain functions such as memory, thinking and reasoning and ultimately leads to death.
In a recent TikTok video, Alice van der Schoot, doctoral researcher and founder of menstrual research company DITTO, said that menstrual blood contains “supercharged” stem cells.
Alzheimer’s disease causes abnormal protein deposits called plaques to build up inside the brain, damaging cells and disrupting their functionality.
Over time, this significantly impairs brain functions such as memory, thinking and reasoning and ultimately leads to death.
Stem cell therapy is used to treat many types of diseases, including autoimmune, inflammatory, neurological and orthopedic diseases, as well as traumatic injuries.
The recent study, published by Chinese scientists at Zhejiang University in 2018, isolated cells in MenSCs that were then injected into the brains of mice, thereby inhibiting a process that releases a harmful protein believed to drive of Alzheimer’s disease.
They used stem cells harvested from menstrual blood samples donated by “healthy women” who volunteered to participate.
The researchers isolated these stem cells and cultured them before injecting them directly into the brains of mice expressing two human genes known to cause Alzheimer’s disease.
After treatment, the researchers stained the mice’s brains with a fluorescent dye to monitor any changes.
This allowed them to see how the amount of plaque, or harmful proteins, in the animals’ brains changed after receiving menstrual stem cell therapy, finding that areas of plaque were significantly reduced.
One study found that the menstrual stem cell family decreased brain plaque and restored some cognitive functions in mice with Alzheimer’s disease.
They also assessed changes in the mice’s memory function and spatial learning abilities.
To do this, they used a water maze test, in which mice had to swim through an opaque pool of water to find a submerged platform.
This tested their ability to know where the platform was and remember how they found it.
The animals that Women who had received menstrual stem cell therapy found the platform significantly more quickly than those who had not received it, suggesting that some of their memory and spatial learning abilities had been restored.
These results are encouraging, but researchers will need to test menstrual stem cell therapy in human cases of Alzheimer’s before this treatment can be prescribed to patients.
There have been some small but promising clinical trials that show that MenSCs can be implanted in humans without any adverse side effects, but the research still has a long way to go.
That said, approval of MenSCs for use in humans would open up a whole new world of opportunities for regenerative medicine, experts say.
“Stem cells are a promising new class of therapies that have the potential to revolutionize the way various diseases are treated,” Jonathan Anderson, a stem cell scientist at the University of California and CEO of Peptide Systems, told Newsweek.
Dr. David Woznica, Regenerative Medicine Physician at Woz Wellness, said: “Probably the greatest benefit of menstrual blood stem cells is how easy they are to obtain; no invasive procedures are required.
“Stem cells present in menstrual blood are similar to those present in bone marrow, although they are capable of proliferating more than their bone marrow counterparts, and the yield of stem cells in menstrual blood is approximately two to four times higher than an equivalent volume.” bone marrow,” he added.
In addition to their potential to treat Alzheimer’s disease, Woznica said MenSCs could eventually help doctors fight inflammation in autoimmune diseases, repair or prevent damage to heart tissue after an attack. heart, treat lung damage and much more.