Did you know that fetal cells remain inside the mother's body for a long time, as they pass through the blood stream to help the body heal?
This phenomenon is known as fetomaternal microchimerism, first discovered during the late 19th century. In fact, the exchange of cells between the mother and the child occurs easily, which explains to some extent the existence of the Y chromosome (Y chromosome), sometimes, within the mother's cells.
Because these chromosomes are found only in men, this proves their transmission from the fetus that was present within the mother's body.
"The process of cell exchange begins about six weeks after conception and lasts until the baby is born," says Amy Bude, a biologist at the University of California. These cells can remain inside the mother's body until they die, playing an important role in maintaining maternal health.
In contrast, we still do not know exactly what types of these cells are likely to be stem cells because they can be found in many different tissue types, according to author Gerald Sinclair in the report published by the Orness Act website.
In 2015, a team of scientists at the University of Leiden Medical Center in the Netherlands conducted an experiment in which tissues were collected from 26 women who died during childbirth (all of them were pregnant with male children) or later.
Maternal bodies
Scientists have reported that wi chromosomes were present within the mothers' bodies, confirming that fetal cells, whether male or female, could infiltrate the uterus. It seems that women get these embryonic cells, which can die or remain within their bodies in the long term.
"It turns out that all pregnant women carry embryonic cells in addition to the DNA of the fetus, where the mother's blood plasma is 6 percent," said Nancy Schott, who wrote on the subject in the journal The Scientif American. However, after the baby is born, the rate declines rapidly. Some cells may remain inside their bodies.
During 1996, Diana Bianchi, a geneticist at the Tufts Medical Center, found fetal cells in the mother's blood 27 years after her baby was born.
Moreover, the results showed that fetal cells not only infiltrate the mother, but also maintain maternal health. But with the multiplicity of research in this new field, puzzling contradictions have arisen over these strange and rare elements.
Some scientists have discovered the role of these cells in the mother's autoimmune disease, one of the most common diseases in women. The researchers found embryonic cells in the skin of patients with scleroderma and in the spleen of women with systemic sclerosis, both of which are on the list of autoimmune diseases.
But recent studies have suggested that embryonic cells may actually protect women from autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis. However, these effects may be due to the response of the mother's immune system to the baby's cells.
Test
In this context, Bianchi, who is currently researching how to use DNA for the fetus and the ribosome DNA in the mother's blood for prenatal testing, said there was evidence to prove the above.
Research has shown that birth reduces the risk of breast cancer in the future, and mothers with breast cancer have lower levels of fetal cells in their blood than non-infected mothers.
The immune response to embryonic stem cells may help detect cancer cells. In fact, cells from the fetus were found in the cervix of cancer patients, while none were found in the cervix of healthy women.
Like cancer cells, some embryonic cells can proliferate endlessly. Studies in mice have found embryonic stem cells clustered around lung tumors. To date, researchers do not know the extent to which fetal cells affect tumors, but they are not prepared to confirm the benefits of these cells for maternal health.
While little is known about the subject so far, scientists hope to better understand these effects over time. In fact, many studies have been conducted on this issue, so in the future we may be able to identify the benefits of these cells and why they remain in the mother's body.