Gum Disease Stem Cells Able To Fight Inflammatory Disease
A study carried out by the Ostrow School of Dentistry USC has found that mouth stem cells can not only be used to create other types of cells, but can also be used in the fight against inflammatory disease.
The particular cells used in the study were gingival mesenchymal cells (GMSC), which are located within the mouth and gum tissues. These cells are special, in that they can develop into other cells and also affect the way the immune system works.
GMSC cells are able to help repair the skin in a shorter space of time and encourage the body’s natural healing process. The study also found that their are two different types of GMSC. The first (M-GMSC) comes from the mesoderm layer during the development of the embryo and the other cells (N-GMSC) come from the cranial neural crest cells, which are involved with the development of the face and head. It was found that the two types of cells had different properties, with the N-GMSC cells found to be more flexible and easier in their development into other cells. Studies with mice with an inflamed colon condition, showed that the N-GMSC cells reduced such inflammation significantly.
More research is needed, but the application of gingiva stem cells in the future may become more widespread.
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