Placental Stem Cells Keep On Giving

It's been a while since the idea of eating human placenta for health benefits first appeared in our news feeds, and now researchers at The University of Queensland have discovered how to make even more of the organ.

More specifically, they've discovered the best way to extract large amounts of endothelial stem stells from the placenta, a type of cell usually discarded after childbirth.

The specialist cells form part of the interior surface of blood vessels, and are abundant in the placenta, but not until now has it been possible to isolate them in sufficient quantities for use in treatments. The cells are being used in the development of treatments for conditions such as diabetes, and each placenta contains enough stem cells to potentially treat 100 patients.

Study leader Associate Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani said the researchers were now working on developing medical treatments from the stem cells: “One of the therapies we are exploring will benefit patients with any condition where blood supply to tissues is severely restricted, such as heart issues,” he said.

“We have recently discovered that endothelial stem cells form new blood vessels when injected into the body.

“A single placenta has enough stem cells for 100 doses, which means after giving life to a baby, the organ may then go on to give a new lease of life to many patients.”

He said laboratory experiments had been promising.

“[Experiments have] revealed that injected endothelial stem cells spur blood vessel growth and improve blood flow by up to 30 to 40 per cent in just two weeks,” Associate Professor Khosrotehrani said.

“This therapy would be a real breakthrough for patients with conditions such as type two diabetes or ischaemia, where blood flow is restricted resulting in intense pain, or wounds that won’t heal ...  For many patients with severely restricted blood flow their only option is amputation of the affected limb. This places a massive burden on the health system.”

Associate Professor Khosrotehrani said that the he and Centre for Clinical Research at UQ are hoping to kickstart clinical trials in 2015