The Potency of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Increase Ovarian Function in Primary Ovarian Insufficiency: A Systematic Review of in vivo Studies

Abstract

Introduction: Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) that caused infertility could decrease the quality of life in women. Therefore, an effective treatment is needed. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) have been reported to have therapeutic benefits in POI. This review aims to evaluate the therapeutic effect of ADSCs in POI. Methods: Literature studies were searched according to PRISMA 2020 guidelines in the following databases: PubMed, ProQuest, Wiley, Emerald, and JSTOR (until July 10th, 2024). The study inclusion criteria are original articles, in vivo study with adipose-derived stem cell therapy towards POI with ovarian function as the outcome. SYRCLE’s risk of bias tool was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. Results: We retrieved 9 from 292 articles published in English between 2013 and 2024. Animals used in this study were mice (n = 5) and rats (n = 4). ADSCs were administered either systematically or directly by injection into the ovaries. Decreased apoptosis, increased follicle survival, and hormone levels were observed. These showed that ADSCs implantation could improve ovarian function in rats and mice. Overall, ADSCs in POI showed satisfactory results. Conclusion: ADSCs showed benefits in increasing ovarian function in POI. Further studies, especially human studies, are needed to evaluate the efficacy and side effects of the ADSCs treatment before reaching general conclusions.