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Review
. 2018 Nov 21;9(1):325.
doi: 10.1186/s13287-018-1067-y.

Human menstrual blood: a renewable and sustainable source of stem cells for regenerative medicine

Haining Lv  1 , Yali Hu  2 , Zhanfeng Cui  3 , Huidong Jia  4
Affiliations
Review

Human menstrual blood: a renewable and sustainable source of stem cells for regenerative medicine

Haining Lv et al. Stem Cell Res Ther. .

Abstract

Stem cells (SCs) play an important role in autologous and even allogenic applications. Menstrual blood discharge has been identified as a valuable source of SCs which are referred to as menstrual blood-derived stem cells (MenSCs). Compared to SCs from bone marrow and adipose tissues, MenSCs come from body discharge and obtaining them is non-invasive to the body, they are easy to collect, and there are no ethical concerns. There is, hence, a growing interest in the functions of MenSCs and their potential applications in regenerative medicine. This review presents recent progress in research into MenSCs and their potential application. Clinical indications of using MenSCs for various regenerative medicine applications are emphasized, and future research is recommended to accelerate clinical applications of MenSCs.

Keywords: Menstrual blood; Menstrual blood-derived stem cells; Regenerative medicine.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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