Cellule Staminali in Medicina della Riproduzione: Potenziale terapeutico per il trattamento dell'Insufficienza Ovarica Prematura e della Sindrome di Asherman

Nowadays infertility is a global concern considering its impact on society in terms of emotional stress and financial efforts for couples willing to become parents as well as demographic decline issues. It has been estimated how the incidence of infertile people will increase over time because of mainly environmental factors giving rise to the dysregulation of reproductive systems. Therefore, fertility care and preservation must be considered as a priority for the patients’ health. Today many interventions have been thought to address infertility namely surgery, administration of antioxidants and ovulation-inducing drugs, improvement of sperm quality, and assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Although current methods have shown an increase in pregnancy rate, many couples still have difficulties to conceive, especially in a situation of unexplained infertility or gamete deficiency resulting from genetic defects. Stem cells have become a promising treatment option for infertility due to their peculiar characteristics such as self-renewal activity and multi-lineage differentiation, immune regulation, angiogenesis and paracrine stimulation. Thanks to stem cells-based therapies full restoration of functional reproductive tissues would reasonable treat female infertility. Several pre-clinical studies have demonstrated the efficacy of adult stem cells in the treatment of premature ovarian failure (POF), due to the early loss of functional oocytes, and in Asherman syndrome (AS) characterized by the obliteration of uterine cavity. Few clinical trials have shown the safety and feasibility of stem cells-based treatments in POF and AS patients, even if further studies are necessary to support these preliminary results.