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Review
. 2021 Jun 28;10(7):1613.
doi: 10.3390/cells10071613.

Application of Stem Cell Therapy for Infertility

Sarama Saha  1 , Partha Roy  2 , Cynthia Corbitt  3 , Sham S Kakar  4
Affiliations
Review

Application of Stem Cell Therapy for Infertility

Sarama Saha et al. Cells. .

Abstract

Infertility creates an immense impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of affected couples, leading to poor quality of life. Infertility is now considered to be a global health issue affecting approximately 15% of couples worldwide. It may arise from factors related to the male (30%), including varicocele, undescended testes, testicular cancer, and azoospermia; the female (30%), including premature ovarian failure and uterine disorders; or both partners (30%). With the recent advancement in assisted reproduction technology (ART), many affected couples (80%) could find a solution. However, a substantial number of couples cannot conceive even after ART. Stem cells are now increasingly being investigated as promising alternative therapeutics in translational research of regenerative medicine. Tremendous headway has been made to understand the biology and function of stem cells. Considering the minimum ethical concern and easily available abundant resources, extensive research is being conducted on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) for their potential application in reproductive medicine, especially in cases of infertility resulting from azoospermia and premature ovarian insufficiency. However, most of these investigations have been carried out in animal models. Evolutionary divergence observed in pluripotency among animals and humans requires caution when extrapolating the data obtained from murine models to safely apply them to clinical applications in humans. Hence, more clinical trials based on larger populations need to be carried out to investigate the relevance of stem cell therapy, including its safety and efficacy, in translational infertility medicine.

Keywords: assisted reproduction technology; induced pluripotent stem cell; infertility; mesenchymal stem cell; spermatogonial stem cell.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Some probable causes of infertility in male and female POF: premature ovarian failure, PCOS: Polycystic ovarian syndrome, XXY: Klinefelter syndrome, MSC: Mesenchymal stem cell. Modified from references Lindsay and Virtikas [8] and Zhao et al. [11].
Figure 2
Figure 2
The role of stem cells in the generation of patient-specific gamete cells. TEAD4: trophectoderm regulator TEA domain transcription factor 4; SOX17: endoderm regulator SRY-box 17; TFCP2L1: pluripotency factors transcription factor CP2-like 1; KLF4: Kruppel-like factor 4; miRNA: Micro RNA; OCT-4: octamer-binding transcription factor 4. Modified from references [35,57,60].
Figure 3
Figure 3
The mechanistic explanation of stem cell therapy for restoration of fertility via endometrial regeneration; BMDMSC: Bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell; MB MSC: menstrual blood mesenchymal stem cell; UC MSC: umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell; ADMSC: adipose-tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell; CXCL: C-X-C motif chemokine ligand; SSEA-1: Stage-specific embryonic antigen-1; CD: Cluster of differentiation. Modified from references [9,87].
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