'Mothers steal babies' cells' and may live longer

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'Mothers steal babies' cells' Jul 9 2004

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Women who give birth may help themselves live longer by stealing some of

their unborn child's cells.

 

Researchers have found male stem cells in women more than 50 years after

they have given birth to boys.

 

They suggest this could benefit the mother, replacing ageing cells and

helping to explain why women generally live longer than men.

 

Stem cells are " master " cells that grow into different kinds of tissue,

especially during foetal development.

 

It is well known that cells from the blood of the foetus can pass to the

mother during pregnancy.

 

The cells eventually become absorbed into the mother's bone marrow - a

process known as fetomaternal microchimerism.

 

Professor Nick Fisk, from Hammersmith Hospital, London, who led the new

research reported today in The Lancet medical journal, said: " We've known

for a long time that cells from the foetus pass into the mother during

pregnancy, but this is the first time we've shown that cells from the

foetus, male or female, can stay with the mother for the rest of her life.

 

" What's interesting is that they are stem cells, and once they lodge in the

bone marrow of the mother, they seem to produce differentiated cells which

become part of the mother. For example, we have identified 'male' bone cells

in women who had given birth to sons. "

 

Earlier studies have linked foetal cells that persist in a mother's

circulation with autoimmune disease.