Yale researchers in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS Biology reported that a woman’s bone marrow may dictate if a woman will be able to start and sustain pregnancy. According to the study, when the egg is fertilized, the stem cells go from the bone marrow to the uterus via traveling in the bloodstream. In the uterus, those stem cells help in transforming the uterine lining for implantation. Should the lining fail through this essential transformation, the embryo will be unable to implant, and the body will terminate the pregnancy.
“We have always known that two kind of things were necessary for pregnancy,” says Dr. Hugh Taylor, senior author and the Anita O'Keeffe Young Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Yale. “You must have ovaries to make eggs, and you must also have a uterus to receive the embryo. But knowing that bone marrow has a significant role is a paradigm shift.”
Previous research has indicated that, in small numbers, bone marrow-derived stem cells contribute to the non-immune environment of the non-pregnant uterus, but it’s remained unknown if and how stem cells affect a pregnant uterus. In this study, the researchers were able to prove the physiological relevance of stem cells to pregnancy.
Head over to YaleNews to know more about the study.
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