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[U17]Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells

by Wayne, Way

It is postulated that volume reduction of umbilical cord blood units inalbumin or dextran before infusion into patients results in improved cellviability. In order to get the best stem cells possible, it is best to takethem in the umbilical cord blood. They can then be stored in a cord blood bankor stem cell bank for the best cord blood collection.

This is based on an in vitro study, which showed that the stem cellviability could actually be improved by volume reducing the umbilical cordblood units before infusion to restore the osmolarity of the suspension.

It was suggested that this process could protect the stem cells from thesevere osmotic stress associated with infusion of cells suspended in medium withhigh concentrations of dimethyl-sulfoxide.

Neutrophils were the major cell population affected by the in vitroincubation whereas mononuclear cells that include the pluripotent stem cellswere relatively resistant to the in vitro toxic effects of dimethyl-sulfoxide.

By reducing the volumes of both dimethyl-sulfoxide and cell lysisproducts, washing may also decrease the adverse reactions associated with theinfusion of cryo preserved units.

However, volume reducing umbilical cord blood grafts after thawing canreduce the number of hematopoietic stem cells infused into the patients becauseof cell loss during manipulation.

Many studies have shown that infusing a high nucleated cell dose is agood prognostic factor for both engraftment and survival in umbilical cordblood transplantation. It is known that the number of cells infused duringumbilical cord blood transplantation is one log less than in a standardallogeneic bone marrow transplant.

In addition, the umbilical cord blood manipulation may cause qualitativechanges in the product that may affect engraftment. The slow engraftmentbecause of the limited number of hematopoietic stem cells available in a singleunit of umbilical cord blood may contribute to high peritransplant mortalityand limit the success of umbilical cord blood transplant especially in adultpatients.

Therefore, any process that may result in hematopoietic stem cells lossor adversely affect hematopoietic stem cells viability, that is, manipulation,should be avoided especially in umbilical cord blood units with low number ofhematopoietic stem cells.

An earlier study observed delayed neutrophil recovery in three patientsreceiving unmanipulated umbilical cord blood. However, these patients receivedMethotrexate that impacts on hematopoietic recovery.

It was found that the hematopoietic recovery and survival of therecipients of unmanipulated umbilical cord blood were comparable to those ofvolume reduced umbilical cord blood.

Cord Blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta following birth. Generally, cord blood is routinely discarded with the placenta and umbilical cord at the time of birth, but now research has shown that the blood in the cord is a rich source of stem cells. This is very important as stem cells are the building blocks of the blood and the immune system.

It has become apparent that saving the cord blood in blood banks, could save the life of the donor, or members of their family from future diseases. This is possible because stem cells have the ability to differentiate into other types of cells in the body, and thus give rise to all the tissues, organs and systems in the body. By saving these stem cells, treatments can be developed for diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimers and Diabetes - to name but a few.

The stems cells in a child's cord blood are genetically unique to the baby and its biological family. As a valuable biological resource, researchers can use these stems cells to investigate the potential for future applications, should the child or family develop health problems later in life. This has brought about the current trend for many parents to invest in their own 'health insurance' by storing the stem cells retained at birth in cord blood banks.

The process of storing the cord blood, involves drawing the blood from the umbilical cord, using either the syringe or bag collection method, after the umbilical cord has been clamped and cut. The blood is then tested to determine whether it meets eligibility standards. The red blood cells or plasma are removed as they will not be needed in transplantation. The blood is then stored in the cord blood unit - either in a vinyl or plastic bag in which it is frozen in liquid nitrogen.

There are two types of cord blood banks...

First, there are the family banks, which store the umbilical cord for one's own family use.

Second, there are the public donor banks, which store the blood for unrelated or non-family use - this can be used for research and development of cures for many types of health problems.

Every parent has the option of saving their baby's cord blood for their family use, however, only a small number of people become eligible to donate their baby's cord blood stem cells.

There are three sources of stem cells in the body.

1 - Cells from bone marrow.

2 - Cells from peripheral blood (this is the blood that circulates through the body).

3 - Cells from umbilical cord blood.

The umbilical blood is significant for research because it differs from the other types of stem cells. Due to the structure of the stem cells in the cord blood, they are less likely to be rejected by the body when used in a transplant.
This allows for the use of the blood in patients other than the original donor and results in a higher rate of success.

Hopefully, some of the points above help to show the benefits and importance of retaining cord blood, and the need to invest time and money in stem cell research.

Article Source : Cord Blood

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Both Wayne & Nicky Pilkington are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

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