How is Stem Cell Transplantation Performed?

Stem cells refer to specialized cells that can turn into different types of cells depending on what your body needs. They are available in various parts of the body, including the bone marrow. The bone marrow contains hematopoietic stem cells that constantly divide to produce all the different blood cells. Young hematopoietic stem cells can mature into any of the following cell types:

• Oxygen-carrying red blood cells;
• Platelets, which help blood to clot;
• White blood cells that help fight infection.

Any disease or condition that affects the bone marrow’s ability to produce new blood cells can cause serious health problems. Bone marrow transplantation is an effective treatment method that can be applied in such cases.

How Does Stem Cell Transplantation Work?

In general, the first step in a successful stem cell transplant is to obtain healthy bone marrow from the patient or donor. This process involves administering general anesthesia to the patient or donor and using a large needle to extract bone marrow from their pelvis. The bone marrow can then be frozen and stored. When ready for use, it is dissolved and injected into the patient, just like a blood transfusion. Healthy stem cells travel to the bone marrow areas and begin to make blood cells. Two types of stem cell transplantation can be performed as autologous stem cell transplantation and allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

In autologous stem cell or bone marrow transplantation, healthy cells are collected from the patient’s bone marrow. The collected bone marrow is stored ready for use after freezing. Meanwhile, the patient is subjected to a conditioning regimen in order to prepare their body for transplantation. The patient is then injected with their own stored blood cells. These cells restore the body’s ability to produce blood cells.

Allogeneic bone marrow or stem cell transplantation is used to treat blood cancers that affect the bone marrow, such as leukemia. Cell transplant tissue comes from the donor that most closely matches the patient. After the patient undergoes chemotherapy, donor cells are injected. Beyond restoring the body’s ability to produce blood, an allogeneic stem cell transplant can also help fight cancer directly. Donated cells sometimes mount a new immune response, which means they find and kill cancer cells that are better than the patient’s original immune cells. 

Stem Cells Are Used in Cosmetic Procedures

Stem cells are attractive candidates for the development of new therapies targeting indications involving functional restoration of defective tissue. Stem cells are being included more frequently in cosmetic procedures lately. Anti-aging treatments, which can be applied to both men and women, aim to delay the degeneration of the skin and support system. As aging progresses, decreased skin elasticity and solas elastosis due to changes in skin thickness and collagen organization cause skin folds and wrinkles. External influences such as photoaging also contribute significantly to changes in skin aesthetics through the induction of uneven pigmentation, dyschromia, and wrinkles. It should be noted that the mechanisms behind aging are cellular and molecular in nature and therefore any treatment claiming to have anti-aging effects must directly affect these mechanisms. Accordingly, volume augmentation often results in a more youthful form and appearance, but does not represent a true anti-aging treatment.

Remodeling of collagen represents an effective target for anti-aging treatments. Laser therapy can trigger collagen remodeling by promoting the synthesis of type I and type III collagen. In addition to laser therapy, cytokines and growth factors can influence collagen remodeling through their effects on dermal fibroblasts. 

Stem cells have the ability to self-renew and differentiate into other cell types. This forms the basis of their use in regenerative medicine and cosmetic dermatology. Adipose-generated stem cells have proven particularly aesthetically appealing given the relative ease of collection and abundance. Therefore, stem cells are used in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia and for skin rejuvenation. 

Collagen is a vital protein that fills the spaces between tissues and cells, is a vital protein that contains wounds and enables self-renewal by tissue cells. The cells responsible for the formation of these proteins are called fibroblasts. Fibroblast tissue is associated with the process of self-repair. Contrary to the expected approaches in terms of fibroblasts, adipose tissue is much richer than expected from bone marrow. The prevalence of fibrocell therapy in recent years is a natural result of scientists discovering abundant fibroblasts preserved in adipose tissues. While fibroblast isolation from bone marrow remains a very difficult operation, biopsy from adipose tissue can also facilitate this application proportionally. At the stage of obtaining fibrocells, a biopsy must be taken from the person under sterile conditions and transferred to the laboratory environment according to cold chain principles. Fibroblasts are reproduced in the laboratory environment and sent to the relevant clinic for application under cold chain conditions.  The treatment process is carried out by injecting fibroblast-rich materials into the patient. They are extremely reliable as they are obtained from the patient’s own tissue. They do not carry any risk of allergies.