New Stem Cell Source

The recent discovery of adult stem cells in menstrual blood offers yet another source of stem cells free from ethical concerns. Researchers from US-based Medistem Laboratories, with scientists from the University of Western Ontario, University of Alberta and the Bio-Communications Research Institute in Wichita, Kansas, found stem cells in menstrual blood capable of producing all the major tissues of the human body.

Known as Endometrial Regenerative Cells, ERC cells can be converted into liver, lung, brain, heart, pancreas, blood vessel and muscle tissue. In addition, the cells produce100,000 times the number of growth factors found in umbilical cord blood.

Limitations in the speed and quantity of cellular replication in adult stem cells have been a key difficulty for researchers. The rapid growth factor of ERCs put them far ahead of adult stem cells obtained from other sources. In addition, obtaining the cells would not require the invasive procedures necessary in harvesting cells from tissues such as bone marrow or amniotic fluid.

Medistem published a paper on the discovery in the Nov. 18 edition of the Journal of Translational Medicine. The paper was the first publication in a peer-reviewed journal to demonstrate the unique properties of stem cells taken from menstrual blood.