Stem cells and umbilical cord are life expectancy

• April 25, 2024

Although the blood transplant umbilical cord is practiced in hundreds of cases a year in many countries, the one carried out last year in a hospital in Seville, (Spain) became a pioneer in the world because it is 2 brothers. Javier, the donor conceived and born after a Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), and his brother Andrés, 7, who suffered from anemia congenital severe incurable The first was born free of the disease and the stem cells of his umbilical cord were transplanted to Andrés to achieve his cure. The operation was a success, although with some controversy. According to experts in the field, the compatibility between siblings is 25%.

What are the BSCU and which are the most important

The Umbilical Cord Blood Bank (BSCU) largest in the world with public funding is the New York Placentary Blood Program; was created by Pablo Rubinstein , the pioneer in the subject. This bank already has 13 thousand donations and is the result of a national program that began in 1987, when a National registry of donors of bone marrow. In Mexico, the National Blood Transfusion Center of the Ministry of Health (CNTS) launched the Umbilical Cord Blood Bank (BSCU) in June 2003, based on the European model of the Cord Bank of Barcelona, ​​(Spain).

How umbilical cord selection and preservation is done

According to the doctors Eva Delia Calderón Garcidueñas , Subdirector of the BSCU and specialist in clinical biochemistry of the Faculty of Chemistry of the UNAM, and Agustín López Murguía , researcher of the Institute of Biotechnology of the same university, immediately after the birth of the baby, the gynecologist is in charge of initiating the process of harvest .

With the placenta still inside the uterus, a puncture is made in the cord vein with the help of a sterile bag where the blood is collected. Once collected, it is transported to the bank for which there are some 40 hours ; After this period, the cells die. Once in the BSCU, the processing is automatic. The cells are separated according to their size and concentrate by eliminating plasma to occupy a smaller volume. Finally they are frozen at -196 ° C using liquid nitrogen, the only way to get to such low temperatures. The cord is validated by determining the stem cells and their viability for a transplant.

It verifies that the blood is clean, free of viruses and microbes, and determine the factors that will serve as a reference to know who it serves: the blood type and the human leukocyte antigens . A public bank like this rejects, on average, one in two donated umbilical cords. Throughout the process, the sample can be tracked perfectly, from its collection to the transplant Of the same. This is achieved through the use of a computer program that allows recording the entire process, while maintaining the anonymity of the mother and child. This technology converts the BSCU of the National Blood Transfusion Center, into the first and so far only Umbilical Cord Blood Bank fully automated throughout Latin America .

First transplant in Mexico

In November 2004, the BSCU performed the first transplant with cord blood in an adult, a 38-year-old woman who had leukemia . The transplant was successfully performed in the city of Monterrey and the patient is currently in excellent condition. But not all cases of transplant are successful . The procedure is risky, especially because to carry out a transplant of this type it must first be destroyed by means of radiation Y chemotherapy the cells of the patient's marrow, which leaves him at the mercy of infections or hemorrhage, with no more defense than antibiotics and the isolation in a fourth bubble. It can take between 20 to 40 days for a transplant to be injected into the patient.

Mexican altruistic bank of Umbilical Cord Progenitor Cells

Another bank option is the Mexican altruistic bank of Umbilical Cord Progenitor Cells known  as BACECU is a bank where mothers donate the umbilical cord cells, immediately after delivery.These can save the life of a sick person, by replacing them in their bone marrow, since they are rich in stem cells that produce Red blood cells , whites Y platelets . The donation is altruistic, free, confidential and anonymous, without any risk for the mother and the child.

For more information about BACECU, visit www.fundacioncompartevida.org.mx

Video Medicine: Umbilical Cord Stem Cells: Regeneration, Repair, Inflammation and Autoimmunity - Neil Riordan PhD P2 (April 2024).