New approaches to the use of cord blood in medicine

eshiFor nearly three decades, the umbilical cord blood is increasingly used in clinical practice as a source of hematopoietic stem cells, alternative to bone marrow of an adult body.

Currently more than 30,000 cord blood transplants for the treatment of malignant and other diseases in children and adults were perfomed worldwide. But in recent years, scientists in addition to populations of cord blood stem cells, are increasingly paying attention at the possibility of production of other equally valuable drugs from the umbilical cord blood. Thus, umbilical cord blood T-cells hold a special place amomg modern immunobiological preparations and are considered to be promising for the immunotherapy of cancer, treatment of a variety of viral and autoimmune diseases. Also endothelial progenitor cells, isolated from umbilical cord blood, are of great interest for practical medicine. Currently approaches to their use for the purposes of neovasculogenesis in vitro and in vivo are being developed, aimed at the treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular system and tissue engineering of vessels bioimplants. Due to modern scientific knowledge the umbilical cord blood is considered as an ideal source for iPS-cells, for the discovery of which the scientists Sinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2012.

To date, more and more researchers pay attention to the value of cord blood plasma as a source of many growth factors and its potential regenerative and healing effect. Cord blood plasma is also considered for the production of artificial tears.
Italian scientists of the Foundation Ca ’Granda Ospedale Maggiore Poiliclinico (Milano, Italy) have patented a method of manufacturing a wound-healing gel based on platelet fraction of umbilical cord blood. Compared to the same drug, produced from peripheral blood platelets of adult donors, umbilical cord blood platelet gel has several advantages. They include accessibility, lack of viral infections and a higher content of endothelial growth factor.

In recent years, more and more attention of the researchers is attracted by the umbilical cord tissue, that is rich in mesenchymal stem cells. In many countries of the world protocols of isolation of mesenchymal stem cells afrom umbilical cord were developed as well as services of long-term banking of these cells were proposed and brought to market, also a number of clinical trials on the evaluation of the effectiveness of these cells in the treatment of diseases were initiated.

A group of scientists from Greece, headed by S. Stavropoulos Gioskas developed method of decellularisation of umbilical arteries, proposed to use as tissue scaffolds for tissue engineering.

So, deeper studies of the biological properties of cellular and humoral composition of umbilical cord blood and tissues of fetoplacental material will allow to offer practical health care effective new biological drugs after appropriate clinical trials.

From The World Congress on Cord Blood And Innovative Approaches To The Treatment Of Sickle-Cell Anemia, Monaco, October 23-27th, 2013.

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