Xiang Chunsheng's research team, a professor of Zhejiang University, isolated uterine blood stem cells from women's menstrual blood and used them to treat clinical diseases. Beijing News reporter learned that at present, the team is collecting donors from the society.
It has been pointed out that this research technology is difficult, and the uterine blood stem cells are not within the scope of clinical treatment approved by the health department, and its actual effect is currently questionable. Yu Kang, director of the Hematology Department of Wenzhou Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Province, pointed out that the research of 'palace blood stem cells' is still in the stage of scientific research, and there is still a long way to go before the formal clinical treatment.
The research team recruited blood donors
On March 8, the news of "donation of uterine blood (menstrual blood) and collection of clinical research volunteers" became a hot spot on the Internet. According to the news, the research team of the medical department of Zhejiang University collected blood donors from the society and encouraged women between the ages of 20 and 35 to participate in the recruitment of 80 people. The collected uterine blood will be used to isolate uterine blood stem cells and conduct medical research.
This study was conducted by Xiang Chunsheng, professor and doctoral supervisor of the medical department of Zhejiang University.
According to public information, 'stem cells' are a kind of pluripotent cells with self replication ability. Under certain conditions, stem cells can differentiate into a variety of functional cells, so they have the potential function of regenerating various tissues and organs. In the medical field, stem cells are called 'universal cells' and' life seeds'.
Xiang Chunsheng said, for example, the essence of bone marrow transplantation to treat leukemia is to transplant hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow, so that the patient's body function can return to normal. In addition, the principle of using cord blood to treat anemia, cancer and other diseases is still to regenerate diseased organs in the body through stem cells.
According to the research team of the project, the uterine blood stem cell in the female menstrual blood is a kind of stem cell with strong ability of self replication and directional differentiation among the known human cells. Xiang Chunsheng introduced that the uterine blood stem cells come from the female endometrium and are discharged through blood. Since it can be obtained routinely and safely from all women of childbearing age by collecting menstrual blood, the research team believes that uterine blood stem cells have great application prospects.
At present, 369 people have been collected
As of yesterday, the project team had access to 875 inquiries from all over the country. The staff selected women aged between 25 and 45 for testing. At present, 369 cases of uterine blood collection have been completed.
A researcher said that starting from entering the laboratory, a uterine blood sample needs to go through a series of work, such as pathogen detection, uterine blood stem cell separation, cell number, activity rate detection, culture, cryopreservation, etc., and finally get the data needed for the experiment, which will take about 30 days.
According to the research team, next, the team will collect 240 volunteers of uterine blood stem cells from the society for clinical research on the treatment of cirrhosis. After signing the letter of intent for donation, the donor shall make an appointment two days before the menstrual period to obtain the menstrual blood collection kit, including the sanitary cotton or the monthly event cup. After collection, contact the staff for sample recovery.
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Uterine blood stem cells do not have clinical treatment conditions
Doubters pointed out that women's blood volume in the whole menstrual cycle is about 70 ml, in which the amount of stem cells is very small, in addition, the hygiene of menstrual blood is not easy to control. Therefore, it is very difficult to collect the palace blood stem cells from the "great aunt" at present.
In response, Xiang Chunsheng said that the real source of 'uterine blood stem cells' is endometrium, which can be expanded in vitro,' can be cultured and expanded many times', and '20 ml of stem cells separated from the meridians are enough to give an adult 2-3 courses of treatment'. Xiang Chunsheng said that in order to ensure that there is no pathogen and microorganism, it is necessary to design and eliminate microorganisms. "This is the core technology of the whole research, and it must go through a strict identification when it is used in clinical practice." so at present, this research is still in the preclinical stage.
Yu Kang, director of the Hematology Department of Wenzhou First Affiliated Hospital in Zhejiang Province, said that the palace blood stem cells' can be collected in the laboratory, but there is still a long way to go to extract stem cells from the meridians for clinical treatment. '
The reporter learned from Zhejiang health and family planning commission that as early as August 11, 2016, the national health and Family Planning Commission issued the notice on carrying out the special supervision and inspection work of medical institutions in accordance with the law, which clearly requires that stem cells for clinical treatment must be approved, and "it is strictly prohibited to be used for clinical treatment without approval". Among them, the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation technology of bone marrow, peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood, which has been approved for clinical treatment, is still in the scientific research stage. Apart from a few experiments, it can not be put into formal clinical treatment, nor has access conditions.
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Drugs for uterine blood stem cells have been developed abroad
In an interview with a reporter from the Beijing News, Xiang Chunsheng said that "blood treatment by aunt" is just a popular saying, which is not accurate strictly. Xiang Chunsheng said that there are about 10 kinds of stem cell drugs approved in the world, including palace blood stem cell drugs. The market potential of uterine blood stem cells is huge, but there is still a certain gap between domestic research and developed countries.
Beijing News: why do you pay attention to the field of obtaining stem cells from menstrual blood?
Xiang Chunsheng: around 2010, I just came back from abroad. In foreign countries, I was engaged in biotechnology research, which was a relatively prospective technology in the field of biology and medicine at that time. At that time, they began to pay attention to and engage in some stem cell research. After returning to China, research in this area continued.
Beijing News: what do you think about this research? It can be simply summed up as' blood can cure aunt '?
Xiang Chunsheng: it's not that 'aunt blood' can cure diseases, but the stem cells separated from 'aunt' can.
Beijing News: what are the conditions for donating volunteers?
Xiang Chunsheng: the most basic condition is to eliminate the pathogens of viruses, including hepatitis B, syphilis and AIDS. The requirements on physical health are relatively strict, and there is no virus in the blood.
Beijing News: in this regard, what should donors pay attention to?
Xiang Chunsheng: first of all, donors should measure whether they are qualified according to the results of previous years or recent physical examination, including whether they have had major diseases within half a year, performed major operations, and whether they have major infections during blood donation, such as cold.
After receiving the samples, strict testing must be carried out to ensure that there are no such problems in the samples. Generally speaking, it is a collection of menstrual blood.
Beijing News: what is the gap between domestic and foreign research in this field?
Xiang Chunsheng: there are about 10 kinds of approved stem cell drugs in the world, including palace blood stem cell drugs. Canada, South Korea and Japan are all ahead of the comparison. At present, stem cell research in China is mainly conducted as a clinical project under the leadership of the Department of health and family planning. At present, there is a certain gap between China and developed countries in new drug research and development.