Effect of intra-ovarian injection of mesenchymal stem cells in aged mares

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to determine if intra-ovarian injection of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) improves or restores ovarian function in aged females. Methods Prospective randomized study of eight aged mares and six young mares receiving intra-ovarian injection of MSCs or vehicle. Main outcome measures were antral follicle count and serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) (aged and young mares), and for aged mares, oocyte meiotic and developmental competence; gross and histological ovarian assessment; evaluation of presence of chimerism in recovered granulosa cells and in ovarian tissue samples; and gene expression in ovarian tissue as assessed by RNA sequencing. Results Injection of MSCs was not associated with significant changes in follicle number, oocyte recovery rate on follicle aspiration, oocyte maturation rate, or blastocyst rate after ICSI in aged mares, or in changes in follicle number in young mares. There were no significant changes in peripheral AMH concentrations, indicating a lack of effect on growing follicles. MSC donor DNA was not recovered in granulosa cells or in ovarian tissue, indicating lack of persistence of injected MSC. RNA sequencing revealed significant differences in gene expression between MSC-and vehicle-injected ovaries. Conclusions Intra-ovarian injection of bone marrow-derived MSCs altered gene expression but did not improve ovarian function in aged mares.

Recent trends in stem cell therapy for premature ovarian insufficiency and its therapeutic potential: a review

“…There are multiple sources of multipotent stem cells in both adults and fetuses. Some are autologous, meaning that they can be transplanted into the donor, and some are allogeneic, meaning that they can be transplanted into patients other than the donor [23]. Stem cells that can be isolated from adults include BMMSCs, adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).…”

Intraovarian injection of mesenchymal stem cells improves oocyte yield and in vitro embryo production in a bovine model of fertility loss

“…Stem-cell therapy has been shown to improve ovarian function in laboratory animal models in which infertility was artificially induced [25][26][27][28][29] . However, the clinical use in large farm animals is still under discussion 30,31 . The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of intraovarian MSC treatment on oocyte yield and embryo production.…”

Uterine Cells Improved Ovarian Function in a Murine Model of Ovarian Insufficiency

“…Prior research has shown similar improvements in ovarian function with stem cells from other lineages including tissue sources as diverse as bone marrow, 8,9,[26][27][28] amniotic epithelium, 10 amniotic fluid, 11 human menstrual blood stem cells, 29 MSCs, [30][31][32] and adipose tissue. 33 The biological mechanism of this improvement has been a topic of discussion for some time.…”