They will be famous: Multipotent stem cells in breast milk

Abstract

Breast milk represents the gold standard for neonatal nutrition, especially for preterm and term infants with a low birthweight. This awareness is based not only on the nutritional properties of human milk, which is specifically designed for the growth of humans but also on breast milk’s non-nutritional properties, such as protection against infection. In fact, breast milk should be considered a heterogeneous ecosystem, including a wide range of cells in addition to those involved in immune function; growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor; multiple noncoding microRNAs; immune cells; epithelial cells and multipotent mesenchymal stem cells. This recent identification of a pool of progenitor stem cells in human milk is the driving force behind the growing research aimed at identifying the nature of these stem/progenitor cells and their sources.

Keywords: Stem cells; Breast milk; Neonate; Multipotent; Nutrition

Core Tip: The presence in the breast milk of a huge number of stem/progenitor cells, able to differentiate into so many different cell types, and their availability at a very low cost without the necessity of obtain complex permissions for their use, has induced in recent years multiple authors to consider the use of maternal milk stem cells in clinical practice. The possible fields of application of milk stem cells are so numerous, including all fields of regenerative medicine.