2022, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (24): 3921-3927

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in endometrial injury repair

Liu Xingyu, Hu Xiaofang, Xu Guangli, Wang Rui, Li Peiyao, Wang Mengyuan, Peng Li, Zhu Xiangying   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells have the characteristics of strong differentiation and immunoregulation, which have been widely concerned in cell therapy.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the research progress of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of endometrial related diseases.
METHODS: Key words were “human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells, endometrium, endometriosis, intrauterine adhesions, thin endometrium” in Chinese and English. PubMed, CNKI, and Wanfang databases were retrieved for articles published from 1991 to 2020. Totally 64 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were reviewed and analyzed.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells, as a kind of stem cells with considerable development potential, have the advantages of rich sources, convenient collection, significant cell proliferation and differentiation. (2) Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells promote the repair of endometrial cell injury, reduce scar formation and improve endometrial function through immune regulation, cell differentiation and down-regulation of fibrotic gene expression, which is conducive to embryo implantation and pregnancy. (3) The important mechanism of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for endometrium may be related to their paracrine cytokines and nutritional factors, and these factors participate in endometrial repair and immune regulation. (4) The treatment method based on human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells has achieved some promising results in the treatment of endometrial injury diseases, such as inhibiting the proliferation and promoting the apoptosis of endometrial cells in vitro, and restoring the fertility of endometriosis rats by repairing the damaged endometrium. It can remarkably promote the regenerative repair of endometrium in rats with severe intrauterine adhesion syndrome, promote vascular regeneration, restore endometrial function, increase the thickness of endometrium through immune regulation, improve endometrial receptivity, and provide new ideas for the treatment of thin endometrium. (5) Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells can escape the recognition of the body’s immune system and avoid host monitoring, so infusion into the body will not cause strong rejection. (6) At present, most of the research is still limited to animal experiments, and its application in clinical treatment is not extensive. In the future, more clinical trials are needed to further study treatment mechanism of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells for endometrium.
Key words: stem cells, human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells, cell differentiation, paracrine, endometrium, endometriosis, intrauterine adhesion, thin endometrium