What type of stem cells does Stem Cell Mexico use?

The tissue is donated with consent after healthy, full-term births, and donors are screened for infectious diseases. The cells are isolated and expanded in a licensed laboratory to reach the dose your doctor prescribes, with quality and safety testing before release, and prepared for your scheduled treatment. Depending on your protocol, they are often combined with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from your own blood. "Allogeneic" means the cells come from a donor rather than from your own body, so no bone marrow or fat harvesting procedure is needed.

This guide explains what MSCs are, how they compare with other stem cells and other MSC sources, what happens in the laboratory, how the cells work in the body and what this means for your treatment.

The main families of stem cells

"Stem cell" is a broad term, and the main categories behave very differently:

• Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can become almost any cell type. They are used in tightly regulated clinical trials, for example to create dopamine neurons for Parkinson's disease or retinal cells for macular degeneration. They are not used at Stem Cell Mexico.
• Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are blood-forming cells from bone marrow, blood or umbilical cord blood. They are the basis of bone marrow transplantation, the most established stem cell therapy in medicine. They are not used for our regenerative treatments.
• Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) live in the supporting tissue of many organs, including bone marrow, fat, umbilical cord, placenta and dental pulp. They are the most widely studied cells in regenerative medicine for inflammatory and degenerative conditions, and they are the cells we use.

What makes a cell an MSC

The International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) defined minimal criteria for MSCs in 2006. Cells must adhere to plastic in culture; express the surface markers CD73, CD90 and CD105 while lacking blood cell markers such as CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR; and be able to become bone, cartilage and fat cells in the laboratory. In 2019, the ISCT recommended using "mesenchymal stromal cells" when stem cell properties have not been specifically demonstrated, and encouraged laboratories to report the tissue source and functional properties of their products. You will see both "mesenchymal stem cells" and "mesenchymal stromal cells" used for the same family of cells.

What Wharton's jelly is

Inside the umbilical cord, surrounding its blood vessels, is a soft, gelatinous tissue called Wharton's jelly. Its natural role is to cushion and protect the vessels. It is rich in young, actively dividing MSCs that produce a wide range of growth factors and signaling molecules. Because the cord is normally discarded after birth, it can be donated without any risk to mother or baby and without the ethical concerns associated with embryonic cells. Wharton's jelly is different from umbilical cord blood, which is a source of blood-forming stem cells rather than MSCs.

How Wharton's jelly MSCs compare with other sources

A comparative study in Scientific Reports (Petrenko and colleagues, 2020) analyzed MSCs from bone marrow, adipose tissue and Wharton's jelly side by side. Wharton's jelly MSCs doubled in less than 24 hours, roughly twice as fast as bone marrow MSCs, and secreted higher levels of hepatocyte growth factor, fibroblast growth factor 2 and neurotrophic factors such as NGF and BDNF. Bone marrow MSCs released more vascular endothelial growth factor, and all three sources showed meaningful regenerative potential. Different sources have different profiles; no single source is ideal for every purpose.

A note on adipose stromal vascular fraction (SVF)

SVF is produced by processing liposuctioned fat, often with enzymes, into a mixture of cells used the same day. It includes some MSCs along with blood vessel and immune cells, and the number of MSCs varies between patients. A 2026 literature review in Stem Cell Research & Therapy (Nonnarath and Serratrice) found a favorable short-term safety profile for autologous SVF, with mostly mild, procedure-related side effects, but noted small, non-randomized studies and variable preparation methods. Expanded Wharton's jelly MSCs, by contrast, are a more defined population prepared to a target dose.

Why we chose umbilical cord tissue

• Young cells: not exposed to decades of aging, illness or medications.
• No harvesting procedure for you: no bone marrow aspiration or liposuction.
• Consistent quality and dose: cells can be expanded, tested and documented before release.
• Ethical sourcing: donated with informed consent from tissue that would otherwise be discarded.
• Low immunogenicity: MSCs express low levels of the molecules that trigger strong immune reactions, so donor matching is not required.

What happens in the laboratory

1. Donor selection and consent after a healthy, full-term birth, with screening and infectious disease testing.
2. Isolation of MSCs from the Wharton's jelly.
3. Expansion: cells are grown under controlled conditions until they reach therapeutic numbers. Each cycle of growth and transfer is called a passage, and the number of passages is controlled because too many can change cell behavior. Cells may be grown under low-oxygen (hypoxic) conditions, which resemble the environment inside body tissues.
4. Release testing: identity, cell count, viability (percentage of living cells) and sterility.
5. Preparation for your date, with batch information recorded for traceability.

6.

The laboratory matters. Two products can both be called "umbilical cord MSCs" and still differ in screening, culture methods, passages, storage, transport and viability at the moment of application. When comparing providers, ask how the cells are made, tested and handled until they are applied.

How MSCs work once they are in your body

MSCs do not simply turn into new cartilage, nerves or heart muscle. Most persist in the body for days to a few weeks, and their main effects come from what they release: growth factors, cytokines and extracellular vesicles that can calm excessive inflammation, shift immune cells toward a repair-oriented state, support the formation of small blood vessels, protect stressed cells and stimulate the body's own repair processes. They act more like temporary coordinators of healing than replacement parts, which is why improvements tend to appear gradually and why dose, placement and rehabilitation all matter.

How the cells are used, and where PRP and exosomes fit

Depending on your condition, cells may be injected directly into joints, tendons, ligaments or spinal structures with ultrasound or fluoroscopy guidance, or given by intravenous (IV) infusion for systemic protocols. PRP, prepared from your own blood, adds concentrated platelets and growth factors. Exosomes are cell-free vesicles released by MSCs, sometimes used in specific protocols such as aesthetic treatments; they are not living cells and their evidence is evaluated separately.

Common questions and misconceptions

Are umbilical cord cells embryonic stem cells? No. They are adult-type stromal cells from tissue donated after birth. No embryos are involved.

Will donor cells be rejected? MSCs are not completely invisible to the immune system, but they do not trigger the strong rejection seen with organ transplants, and matching is not required.

Do the cells change my DNA? No. They are gradually cleared after delivering their signals.

Are more cells always better? No. Studies have not shown a simple dose-response relationship for most conditions; the right dose depends on the target, route and your health.

Is the donor's identity shared? No. Donor information is confidential and coded, while testing and batch information are recorded for traceability.

What the evidence says

MSCs, including umbilical cord-derived MSCs, have been studied in many clinical trials worldwide. Safety has generally been favorable, with mostly temporary effects such as soreness at injection sites or mild fever after infusions. Evidence of effectiveness is strongest in knee osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease and growing in neurological, cardiac, autoimmune and wellness uses. Results depend on the condition, dose, route and protocol and should not be extrapolated from one setting to another.

Regulatory context

In the United States, culture-expanded MSCs require FDA approval for each use, and only one MSC product has been approved so far, for a pediatric transplant complication. In Mexico, establishments that handle stem cells operate under sanitary licenses from COFEPRIS.

Questions to ask during your evaluation

• How many cells will I receive, and how was that dose chosen?
• Will PRP or other components be part of my plan, and why?
• Which route and guidance will be used?
• What evidence supports this approach for my condition?

Bottom line

Stem Cell Mexico uses culture-expanded allogeneic MSCs from Wharton's jelly: a young, ethically sourced and well-characterized cell type that can be prepared to a defined dose, tested and documented before treatment, without a harvesting procedure for you. A medical evaluation can help determine whether this type of regenerative treatment is appropriate for your condition, goals and medical history.