![]() ![]() Obtaining adipose-derived stem cells requires a liposuction-like procedure that may itself take weeks of healingĪdipose stem cells are collected from fat tissue by way of an invasive liposuction-like procedure and are not the same as those found in cord blood or bone marrow. Researchers believe this has something to do with the removal of the stem cells from their bone marrow environment although the exact reason is not clear. In a meta-analysis of 9 trials totaling 1,111 patients, researchers found time to engraftment was slower and the frequency of graft-versus-host disease was greater in transplantations using peripheral blood than bone marrow. Unfortunately, these stem cells have proven less effective compared with cord blood and bone marrow stem cells. The rest of the blood is returned to the donor's other arm through another needle. The blood is then drawn from one arm and filtered through a machine to catch the stem cells from the peripheral blood. It begins days before the stem cell transplant with injections to get the stem cells in the bone marrow to enter the blood stream. The non-surgical procedure is called apheresis. ![]() To gather a large number of stem cells from blood, the blood- and immune system–forming stem cells in bone marrow need to be coaxed out and collected. The procedure for capturing peripheral blood stem cells is like a long blood donationĪs noted earlier, blood contains stem cells, just not too many. These stem cells are more limited in the types of cells they can become, something known as being tissue-specific, and they stay with us throughout our lives, which is why they are referred to as adult stem cells. ![]() Thankfully, we can also acquire stem cells that form just a little bit later down the road and can be found in the umbilical cord blood and cord tissue. There is a lot of controversy and ethical considerations concerning the embryonic stem cell. ![]() Embryonicįound in large numbers during gestation, embryonic stem cells are by far the youngest stem cells and have the unique ability to become any type of cell in the body. They are also more likely to cause an autoimmune response, which is when your body attacks itself. Age is also a factor because as stem cells age, they lose their ability to reproduce and differentiate into other cell types, they may become contaminated with a latent virus or affected by a disease, or they may have been exposed to toxins and have undergone mutation. Volume is important because there is no conclusive way to spur replication, so as of now, what you get is what you get. (You can read more about the unique traits of stem cells here.)Īs stem cells can be found throughout the body, it may seem as though they can easily be harvested for transplantation and regenerative medicine, but it’s the volume and the age of stem cells that are the main driving factors in where they are collected. They can do this because of their unique abilities to become many different types of cells and to replicate rapidly. In these areas, they lie dormant until needed to regenerate lost or damaged tissue. Stem cells are pretty ubiquitous in the body, appearing in many different organs and tissues including the brain, blood, bone marrow, muscle, skin, heart, and liver tissues. The term stem cell may conjure up thoughts of some rare type of cell that can only be found in very specific locations. ![]()
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