We sought to determine whether intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) could be a target for mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based transamniotic stem cell therapy (TRASCET).
Pregnant dams subjected to hypoxia (10.5% O2) cycles had their fetuses divided into four groups: untreated (n=24) and three groups receiving volume-matched intra-amniotic injections of either saline (sham; n=16), or suspensions of luciferase-labeled, syngeneic amniotic fluid-derived MSCs that were either native (TRASCET-unprimed; n=29), or primed by exposure to IFNγ and IL-1β (TRASCET-primed; n=31). Normal fetuses served as additional controls (n=22). Multiple analyses were performed at term.
Compared to normal, fetal weights were significantly decreased in all hypoxia groups (p=0.002 to
