Dr Irene Cervelló, researcher from the IVI Foundation, has been awarded a research grant award by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (also known as ‘ISCII’, which operates directly under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Royal Decree 345/2012) and the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality. The ISCII has as its main goal to support the development of scientific knowledge in the Health Sciences and to contribute to innovation in Healthcare and Disease prevention.
The study carried out by Dr Cervelló and her co-investigators – entitled “identification of regenerative factors in reproductive medicine and its application as future therapeutic tool” – aims to identify the factors that promote endometrial tissue regeneration. In a previous study, performed 2 years ago, Dr. Cervello succeeded in regenerating the endometrium by infusing the uterus with stem cells, and mobilizing blood stem cells. She discovered that the cells initiate a sequence of events resulting in tissue growth. It is likely that the signals used by the stem cells to communicate with each other play a key role in this process. The goal of this newly funded project is to identify those signals or other factors that promote endometrial tissue regeneration.
Dr Irene Cervelló states, “We have samples from our previous study and, for this study, we will first analyse such samples in order to identify the factors that help regenerate endometrial tissue. Then, once such factors have been identified, we will apply them to an animal model to check regeneration of the endometrium. In short, the ultimate goal of the study is to identify such factors”.
After having identified the factors influencing the growth, it will be much easier to find a non-invasive method, as an alternative to stem cells mobilization and infusion, to fight against issues such as endometrial atrophy or Asherman’s Syndrome. Furthermore, the study designed by Dr Cervelló, maintains another research line that is based on the use of platelet-rich plasma to solve issues with endometrial tissue. A technique that has been successfully used in the field of Traumatology and Cosmetic Medicine, but never in Gynaecology.