Stimulation of spermatogenesis
MSU has proposed a new approach to the treatment of male infertility
Employees of the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine of Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Medical Research and Educational Center (MOC) MSU has received a patent for a method of stimulating spermatogenesis – the formation of male germ cells. As part of the method developed by Moscow scientists, a "cocktail" of biologically active molecules responsible for the growth and specialization of sperm precursors, as well as cells that support, nourish and protect them, is locally injected into the testicles. Treatment with such a drug should help patients with infertility. This is reported in a press release received by the editorial office.
Men are most often infertile due to disorders of spermatogenesis - the formation and maturation of spermatozoa. Existing methods of treatment, as a rule, do not eliminate all the causes of disorders, and they can happen at several stages of the formation of male gametes. Radical methods, such as genital gland transplantation, are quite effective, but often the effect of them does not last long, plus donor material is difficult to get, and it is often rejected.
The method developed by scientists from Moscow State University is devoid of these drawbacks – at least, according to its authors. The patented preparation contains a mixture of collagen connective tissue protein and signaling substances secreted by human mesenchymal stromal stem cells (MSCs). These cells are present in almost all tissues and, if necessary – for example, if a part of an organ is damaged - differentiate, acquiring the properties of the lost cells and taking their place. MSCs produce a variety of growth and differentiation factors – compounds that give cells a signal to gain mass and change the activity of certain genes. In the case of therapy, for a "cocktail" of substances produced by mesenchymal stromal stem cells, only those that stimulate sperm precursors (spermatogonia) and testicular cells surrounding these spermatogonia, necessary for nutrition and protection of future male gametes, are selected.
According to the idea of the developers, biologically active substances from MSC mixed with collagen are enough to be injected once under the protein membrane of the patient's testicle. This is more convenient than transplanting donor material, and the degree of invasiveness (invasion of the body) in this case is less than during surgical operations. However, there is no exact information about the effectiveness of the subject of the patent from MSU scientists yet. "If successful results of preclinical and clinical studies are obtained, proving the safety and effectiveness of using the developed biomaterial to stimulate spermatogenesis, it can become a fundamentally new way of treating non-obstructive [i.e., if the ducts of the vas deferens are not blocked] forms of male infertility. Considering that the contribution of disorders of spermatogenesis in men as a cause of infertility of couples already reaches 50 percent, and existing methods of treatment are ineffective and often associated with serious side effects, the new method of treatment will be very much in demand," commented Anastasia Efimenko, senior researcher at the Institute of Regenerative Medicine of the Moscow State University.
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