Objective: Exploiting their ability to differentiate into mesenchymal lineages like cartilage, bone, fat, and muscle, and to elicit paracrine effects, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in clinical settings to treat tissue injuries and autoimmune disorders. One of accessible sources of MSC is the samples used for Papanicolaou (Pap) test, which is a cervical screening method for detecting potentially pre-cancerous and cancerous alterations in the cervical cells and to diagnose genetic abnormalities in fetuses. This study aimed to identify and isolate the stem cells from Pap smear samples collected from pregnant women, and to trace the origin of these cells to maternal or fetal tissue, and characterize their stem cell properties. Methods: To investigate the possibility and efficiency of establishing MSC lines from the Pap smear samples, we were able to establish 6 cell lines from Pap smear samples from 60 pregnant women at different stages of gestation. Results: The 3 cell lines randomly selected among the 6 established in this study, displayed high proliferation rates, several characteristics of MSCs, and the capacity to differentiate into adipocytes, osteocytes, and chondrocytes. Our study identified that the stem cell lines obtainable from Pap smear sampling were uterine cervical stromal cells (UCSCs) and had 10% efficiency of establishment. Conclusion Despite their low efficiency of establishment, human UCSCs from Pap smear samples can become a simple, safe, low-cost, and donor-specific source of MSCs for stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

Objective: Exploiting their ability to differentiate into mesenchymal lineages like cartilage, bone, fat, and muscle, and to elicit paracrine effects, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in clinical settings to treat tissue injuries and autoimmune disorders. One of accessible sources of MSC is the samples used for Papanicolaou (Pap) test, which is a cervical screening method for detecting potentially pre-cancerous and cancerous alterations in the cervical cells and to diagnose genetic abnormalities in fetuses. This study aimed to identify and isolate the stem cells from Pap smear samples collected from pregnant women, and to trace the origin of these cells to maternal or fetal tissue, and characterize their stem cell properties. Methods: To investigate the possibility and efficiency of establishing MSC lines from the Pap smear samples, we were able to establish 6 cell lines from Pap smear samples from 60 pregnant women at different stages of gestation. Results: The 3 cell lines randomly selected among the 6 established in this study, displayed high proliferation rates, several characteristics of MSCs, and the capacity to differentiate into adipocytes, osteocytes, and chondrocytes. Our study identified that the stem cell lines obtainable from Pap smear sampling were uterine cervical stromal cells (UCSCs) and had 10% efficiency of establishment. Conclusion Despite their low efficiency of establishment, human UCSCs from Pap smear samples can become a simple, safe, low-cost, and donor-specific source of MSCs for stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

Objective: We used paclitaxel and cisplatin, known to be effective in intraperitoneal chemotherapy, in a novel prototype of rotational intraperitoneal pressurized aerosol chemotherapy (RIPAC) and evaluated the pharmacokinetics, tissue concentrations, and toxicities in a pig model. Methods: We developed RIPAC, including the nozzle with the conical pendulum motion, and used 10% of intravenous doses of paclitaxel and cisplatin. We used high-performance liquid chromatography followed by tandem mass spectrometry to analyze serum and tissue concentrations. We applied a non-compartment model to study pharmacokinetics to analyze the time-dependent serum concentrations measured before RIPAC to 48 hours. We evaluated the difference in tissue concentrations between twelve peritoneal regions by the modified peritoneal cancer index. For evaluating toxicities, we observed hepatic and renal function until 4 days after RIPAC. Results: Six pigs underwent RIPAC using paclitaxel (n=3) and cisplatin (n=3). The peak serum concentration (Cmax) and the area under the curve were higher for cisplatin, while the time to the peak serum concentration (Tmax) was longer for paclitaxel. Moreover, the parietal peritoneum showed higher tissue concentrations than the visceral peritoneum, and the ratio of tissue to serum concentrations using Cmax was higher for paclitaxel (172.2–6,237.9) than for cisplatin (0.1–9.3). However, there were no renal and hepatic toxicities after RIPAC with paclitaxel or cisplatin. Conclusion Delayed absorption of paclitaxel sprayed by RIPAC into the peritoneum to the bloodstream may lead to higher tissue concentrations at different regions and lower serum concentrations than cisplatin.