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Updated: Nov 20, 2025

Reprogramming Primary Amniotic Fluid and Membrane Cells to Pluripotency in Xeno-free Conditions
Published on: November 27, 2017
A pilot trial of human amniotic fluid for the treatment of COVID-19
Craig H Selzman1, Joseph E Tonna2, Jan Pierce3
1Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, 3C 127, 30 N 1900 E, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA. craig.selzman@hsc.utah.edu.
Objective:
Vertical transmission from SARS CoV-2-infected women is uncommon and coronavirus has not been detected in amniotic fluid. Human amniotic products have a broad immune-mediating profile. Observing that many COVID-19 patients have a profound inflammatory response to the virus, we sought to determine the influence of human amniotic fluid (hAF) on hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
Results:
A 10-patient case series was IRB-approved to study the impact of hAF on hospitalized patients with documented COVID-19. Nine of the 10 patients survived to discharge, with one patient succumbing to the disease when enrolled on maximal ventilatory support and severe hypoxia. The study design was altered by the IRB such that the last 6 patients received higher dose of intravenous hAF. In this latter group, patients that had observed reductions in C-reactive protein were associated with improved clinical outcomes. No hAF-related adverse events were noted. Acknowledging some of the inherent limitations of this case series, these results inform and catalyze a larger scaled randomized prospective trial to further investigate hAF as a therapy for COVID-19. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04319731; March 23, 2020.

