Congenital birth defects may be treated by using amniotic fluid, the protective liquid surrounding an unborn baby often discarded as waste during caesarean deliveries . Over the past decade, studies have shown that this fluid is a valuable source for deriving stem cells and is an emerging possibility for Cell Therapy or Regenerative Medicine. Amniotic fluid is also a source for Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), also called a multipotent tissue or adult stem cell which can produce more than one type of specialized cell, useful in treating different diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, and neurodegenerative disorders.
According to the research by Shuan M. Kunisaki, Amniotic Fluid Stem Cells for the Treatment of Surgical Disorders in the Fetus and Neonate
There are several reasons why amniotic fluid-derived stem cells are becoming one of the breakthrough approaches
Another fact amniotic fluid-derived stem cells is gaining more attention is that MSCs Lund University “Full term amniotic fluid, being an easily obtainable and abundant tissue source, may be the solution for MSC based cell therapy and regenerative medicine applications” , said Associate Professor Niels-Bjarne Woods, a corresponding author of a study done by scientists and clinicians at Lund University in Sweden. Amniotic fluid-derived stem cells comes from the fetus itself, therefore it can be used in Stem Cell Therapy without the concern for immunologic rejection of donor cells or the rejection by the recipient’s immune system. In fact, Kunisaki wrote that the safety with amniocentesis is causing a rise in commercial banking of amniotic fluid in developed countries.
H/T: Lund University
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