Cord blood has been used in medicine since 1988 as a source of hematopoietic stem cells and is officially recognized as equivalent to bone marrow. Although the greatest value of cord blood is its leukocyte fraction (containing stem cells) and this is the component freezed by most cord blood banks, disposing of plasma and erythrocytes, in recent years there has been an increasing number of convincing scientific reports on the medical value of all components of cord blood. Several abstracts published in September 2024 in a special issue of the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine for the World Cord Blood Congress are devoted to the production of non-cellular drugs from cord blood.
Giuseppa Tancredi et al. reported on the possibility of producing eye drops and platelet gel from cord blood components, as well as using it for hemotransfusions in premature infants. Dinara Samarkanova et al. presented a program of multicomponent fractionation of cord blood introduced in the the cord blood bank in Barcelona (Spain) and considered the possibility of producing platelet concentrate, platelet-depleted plasma, and red blood cells from cord blood.
Last but not least, cord blood is a promising source for obtaining CAR-T and NK cells (natural killer cells (Nk)) for cancer immunotherapy. Wider implementation of multicomponent fractionation programs will allow for even greater benefits and therapeutic opportunities while preserving cord blood.
Source: Stem Cells Transl. Med. 2024. 13 (1)
In Ukraine, specialists from the Institute of Cell Therapy have also gained significant positive experience in cryopreservation and clinical use of non-cellular preparations of perinatal tissues (umbilical cord, placenta), in particular the use of amniotic membrane obtained from the placenta in ophthalmological surgeries and in wound treatment (more https://cryobank.ua/uk/news-uk/ukrayinskyh-voyiniv-likuyut-iz-vykorystannyam-tkanynnyh-preparativ-platsenty-vygotovlenyh-ikt/)
