Preservation of cord blood cells. Preserving cord blood stem cells is like insuring a child's life

According to statistics, about 200 million births occur annually in the world, during which about 20 thousand tons of umbilical cord blood are destroyed. Although many doctors claim that it is extremely valuable. Today, propaganda for the preservation of cord blood has begun to develop actively, and more and more often young parents sign contracts for its cryopreservation in order to have a kind of “insurance” for the child in the future. After all, it is believed that with the help of stem cells, which are part of it, it is possible to cure almost all diseases, including the storm of today - oncology. How exactly cord blood works and why stem cells are taken in maternity hospitals - in the material of AiF.ru.

Easier reactions, fewer infections

According to doctors, cord blood and the stem cells in it are much better and healthier than other types of blood. True, we are most often talking about its demand for severe pathologies that require, for example, long-term serious treatment or transplantation. The advantages of own stem cells are:

• Less risk of transmission of latent viral infections
• Less frequency and severity of graft-versus-host disease
• No risk to the donor, etc.

Stem cells appear in the embryo from the very beginning of its formation in the womb. At first, they are the internal cell mass, from which all human tissues and organs are later formed. Such cells divide very quickly and turn into 350 different types of cells. Their main property is to protect the body from various pathological microorganisms. As soon as they receive a signal of an "attack", they are sent to the lesion and turn into additional cells of the organ or tissues that fight the infection. Thus, they can help restore balance and replace damaged body parts.

But there is also a minus: over time, stem cells lose their efficiency and weaken, it becomes more difficult for them to deal with stress. And this is where pre-prepared backup options can come to the rescue.

The highest quality concentrate

Today it is considered most correct to take blood from infants. After all, their stem cells are still “fresh”, not deformed and not “tired”. The process of taking blood from the umbilical cord, which, in principle, no one needs after childbirth, since it has already fulfilled its purpose, is automated. Therefore, doctors at the output receive a concentrated composition rich in high quality stem cells. The viability of cells after such isolation, as studies show, is 99.9%. For the procedure, parents are given an individual set, which can be given in their hands or immediately delivered to the maternity hospital. The collected blood can even be transported to other regions: the conditions will need to be negotiated with the personnel of the cryobank.

Next comes the cryopreservation procedure. After all, this is the only way to save blood and cells for a long time. If necessary, it remains only to defrost them and carry out treatment. According to experts, therapy with such a remedy has been carried out in the world for 15 years. In the list of areas in which they fight diseases through such treatment:

• Oncology
• Hematology
• Gastroenterology
• Genetics
• Gynecology
• Dermatology
• Cardiology
• Neurology
• Ophthalmology
• Urology
• Phlebology
• Surgery
• Endocrinology

How are cells stored?

Before storing cells, they must be prepared for freezing. To do this, they are placed in special cryocontainers, which are plastic bags or test tubes. What exactly will be used is determined by the amount of material. Each stem cell sample must be labeled and a unique code consisting of numbers or strokes is used for this. Later, all information is entered into a special database and duplicated, so that the probability of errors is 100% eliminated.

Stem cells are soft-frozen in special facilities that maintain the optimal cooling rate and allow them to maintain their maximum viability.

Containers with cells after freezing are placed in separate boxes and immersed in liquid nitrogen. Thus, they are protected from external influences so that they retain their activity for a long period of time. The electronic sensors that are in the storage facilities are responsible for monitoring the level of nitrogen around the clock without interruption.

It should be borne in mind that such a procedure is not from the category of cheap ones. So, on average, the cost of cord blood sampling is 70,000 rubles. And subsequent storage is determined by the conditions of different cryobanks, but on average, each month will cost 10,000 rubles.

Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta after the birth of the baby and separation of the placenta. The main interest for researchers is not the umbilical cord blood itself, but the presence of a large number of stem cells that this blood contains.

Most of them are precursors of blood cells. But as a result of a number of experiments, it was found that under certain conditions it is possible to direct the process of their differentiation (specialization) in any direction. For example, to grow cartilage, nervous tissue, muscle fibers, etc.

Cord blood stem cells are good because:

• using them ethically;
• the procedure for obtaining cord blood does not harm the mother and child;
• already in our time they can be used to treat a number of diseases, and in the future the number of indications for the use of stem cells will only increase;
• storage of a child's stem cells is a kind of insurance in case of a serious illness of the owner of the material, as well as his genetic relatives;
• cells are young, they have not exhausted their potential, therefore they actively and quickly divide, contributing to the restoration of body tissues;
• Cord blood T-lymphocytes have not yet come into contact with foreign agents, since the fetus inside the mother's body is completely sterile, which means that the risk of developing a rejection reaction is much lower compared to the reaction that occurs after bone marrow transplantation from an adult.

A brief excursion into the history of the issue

For the first time, scientists drew attention to the presence of stem cells in the bone marrow. There they contain the greatest number. And they can be used to transplant another person to treat a range of blood disorders.

The first bone marrow transplant was performed in 1969 on a patient with leukemia by the American physician Don Thomas. Before the bone marrow transplantation, all the cells of the patient's hematopoietic system were destroyed by special chemicals and exposure to radioactive radiation.

Donor cells after transplantation give the patient the growth of new healthy blood cells. The method described above, with some modifications, is still used today. And Dr. Don Thomas was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1990.

The problem with donor bone marrow is the following: even with a large number of potential donors, it can be extremely difficult to find a suitable sample for a patient.

In the United States alone, there are 4-5 million potential bone marrow donors who have passed the necessary examination, donated blood for typing and have been entered into the database.

Despite this, in each case, the selection of a suitable donor for the patient takes about 1 year. It also happens that a suitable donor is simply not found, since people are unique from a genetic point of view, and the coincidence of parameters that are mandatory taken into account during transplantation is extremely rare.

Human and animal embryonic cells have been used for experiments for a number of years.

Since millions of abortions are performed annually in the world, there was a huge amount of material for research. However, such experiments were recognized as unethical and in a number of countries prohibited at the legislative level. To get around these limitations, it was proposed to use the patient's own stem cells taken from adipose tissue, as well as the use of umbilical cord blood, which can be stored indefinitely without losing its beneficial properties.

Cord blood sampling for the purpose of storage and use as needed has been carried out for 20 years. And if previously unnamed samples were collected and stored in state cord blood banks, which could be used to treat any patient, then in the last decade, more and more often parents turn to private banks to save named samples of the material. Nominal designs may only be used at the discretion of their owners.

Video: Stem cell - the path to health

What can now be treated with their use

• Injury to any part of the nervous system.

Currently, there are already reports of successful cases of treatment of the consequences of injuries of the nervous system using stem cells. Improvement in patients is achieved due to the fact that stem cells can differentiate into oligodendrocytes - cells of the nervous system, and can contribute to the formation of new vessels in areas where parts of the bloodstream have been damaged as a result of trauma, atherosclerosis or disease.

Both processes during stem cell transplantation occur simultaneously, which ultimately leads to the restoration of a part of the central or peripheral nervous system.

Now, two main methods are used for their transplantation in neurosurgery:

• performing an operation, including with a trepanation of the skull, if we are talking about the brain;
• lumbar puncture (introduction of stem cells into the spinal canal).

Currently, methods are being developed to deliver stem cells to the damaged area of ​​any part of the nervous system through the vessels under ultrasound control. Their sources for adult patients who do not have frozen cord blood stem cells may be some brain structures (eg, temporal gyrus or olfactory bulb) as well as red bone marrow.

But getting a patient with a general serious condition after a stroke or injury is difficult, since any operation can further aggravate a person's condition.

Another negative fact is that the stem cells of an adult, unlike the same cells of a newborn, often cannot form full-fledged cells of the nervous tissue. Under the influence of a number of conditions created in the laboratory, adult stem cells can differentiate "as close to neuronal" as possible and even take over part of the functions of neurons. But the result of treatment with such cells will be lower.

In such a situation, those patients who will have their own cord blood stem cells at their disposal will be in a better position.

Treatment examples:

• in 2004, South Korean scientists were able to restore a section of the spinal cord in a 37-year-old patient who, after an injury for 19 years, could not walk and moved only in a wheelchair;
• treatment of stroke with stem cell transplantation allows you to get a more pronounced and faster recovery of motor functions, coordination of movements, speech, compared with the standard treatment prescribed with this aptology;
• in 2013, an extensive study was published in the journal Stem Cell on the treatment of children with cerebral palsy with stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood;
• In South Korea, for several years now, the method of treating cerebral palsy with the patient's own stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood has been used.

Data have already been obtained that will allow in the near future to begin treatment of such diseases as allergic encephalomyelitis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease.

• Diseases of the blood system.

The treatment of diseases of the hematopoietic system is what actually began the widespread use of their transplantation in medicine. Therefore, a lot of experience has already been accumulated in this direction.

Currently, the indications for treating a patient with own or donor stem cells are:

• myelodysplasia;
• acute and chronic leukemia;
• refractory anemia;
• aplastic anemia;
• lymphoma;
• Fanconi anemia;
• paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria;
• multiple myeloma;
• beta thalassemia;
• macroglobulinemia Waldenström;
• sickle cell anemia.

Some of the diseases listed above can be cured by the introduction of their own cells. The effect of the treatment will be in cases where violations in the hematopoietic system have already arisen during the life of a person and were absent at birth.

If the disease is hereditary (for example, sickle cell anemia) or occurred in the prenatal period, then it is advisable to use donor stem cells from a healthy person.

• Reconstructive medicine.

Even people far from medicine are familiar with the fact of growing human ear cartilage on the body of a rat and then transplanting this ear into a patient. The news about this event appeared for quite a long time on a variety of resources on the Internet and kept popping up in the media.

It happened back in 1997. The authors of the technique were surgeon Jay Vakanti and microengineer Jeffrey Borenstein from Boston. The ear was grown on a titanium wire frame. When the experience was successfully completed, the researchers began to grow in artificial conditions of the human liver.

Stem cells can be used to grow and transplant articular cartilage into a patient. Cartilage plate transplantation can significantly facilitate the patient's movement, maintain joint mobility and reduce pain.

• Other diseases.

There are already reports of regeneration of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas using stem cells in patients with acute pancreatitis. The islets of Langerhans in the pancreas are responsible for the production of insulin. If these areas in the body are damaged, then a person will inevitably develop diabetes mellitus.

This also includes various congenital and acquired autoimmune disorders, metabolic disorders, oncological processes. For example:

• systemic scleroderma;
• systemic lupus erythematosus;
• rheumatoid arthritis;
• cancer of the breast, lung, ovaries, testicles and other organs;
• congenital immunodeficiency;
• AIDS;
• amyloidosis;
• histiocytosis, etc.

Cord blood banks

Cord blood stem cells are accepted for storage in two categories of banks: public and private. The goal of state banks is to create a certain stock of biological material from anonymous donors and subsequently use this biological material for research and treatment of patients. Any research or medical institution can apply for stem cells. Before being accepted for storage, each of the samples is typed and added to the database.

Private banks are set up to accept personalized specimens from parents of newborns and keep them until biological material is needed or until the family refuses to pay for storage.

The child's family can dispose of their nominal stock until he comes of age, and then the child himself.

Currently, some state-owned banks also take custody of personalized samples on a commercial basis.

Video: Why do we need umbilical blood

In Russia

• Gemabank.

Works not only in Russia, but also in Ukraine. Some are confused by the fact that it is a Limited Liability Company (Gemabank LLC). Some topics that have a large number of negative reviews. Some do not trust Gemabank because, unlike other institutions of this type, it does not conduct its own research, but only stores samples. Nevertheless, Gemabank has clients, including regular clients.

• BSC "CryoCentre".

The CryoCentre stem cell bank was established in 2003 on the basis of the Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

In Ukraine

• Institute of Cell Therapy.

This bank is a member of an international organization, therefore, a cord blood sample can, if necessary, be transferred to any of the countries of Europe and the USA.

• LLC "Gemabank"

Institutions that accept cord blood samples for storage in Belarus

• Bank of umbilical cord blood stem cells on the basis of the Laboratory for separation and freezing of bone marrow 9 of the City Clinical Hospital in Minsk.

9 City Clinical Hospital of Minsk is a state organization that accepts both unnamed and registered cord blood samples for storage. In order to place a nominal sample for storage, parents need to write two applications at once: one at the maternity hospital for cord blood sampling, the second at the 9th City Clinical Hospital for the isolation and cryopreservation of stem cells.

Video: Stem cell bank - trans technologies

Abroad, whose services are available to residents of the CIS

• Swiss biotechnology company Salveo Biotechnology.

The private cord blood stem cell bank Salveo operates in all EU countries. Since 2012, residents of Russia and Ukraine can also use the company's services. The head office and the laboratory where the samples are stored is located in Geneva.

Sample collection and preparation for freezing

Cord blood is taken immediately after the baby is born, the umbilical cord is clamped and cut off. It makes no difference whether a child is born naturally or by caesarean section. Usually blood is taken with a needle attached to a syringe.

The procedure is technically simple, but still requires special training of the medical staff, since the blood taken must remain sterile. After all the blood is in the syringe, it is poured into a special container containing an anticoagulant (a drug that prevents blood from clotting).

Blood can be stored in the container for 24 hours. During this time, it must be taken to the blood bank laboratory and subjected to a special procedure for preparing for freezing.

In order for it to make sense to store it, you need to collect a certain amount of it. Blood banks consider it inappropriate to store stem cells derived from a blood volume of less than 40 ml. 80 ml of blood is considered optimal, therefore very often blood is also taken additionally from the placenta.

And we don't draw blood from a child when we collect a sample "for the future"?

The collection procedure itself is safe for the mother and fetus. Opinions are periodically expressed on the Internet that this is harm to the child, since it is actually taken from the newborn. These opinions are unfounded, since part of the blood still remains in the umbilical cord and placenta, regardless of whether this blood is taken for cryo-freezing or not.

What's more, obstetricians and neonatologists are aware that late cutting of the umbilical cord, which is done to "give the baby more blood," often results in more severe neonatal jaundice.

Physiological jaundice develops in almost every child and is caused by the active destruction of fetal hemoglobin (the hemoglobin that carries oxygen in the blood of a child during fetal development).

The more blood the child gets immediately after birth, the more destroyed hemoglobin, the more pronounced yellowness of the skin and mucous membranes. In light of all of the above, it turns out that the baby is not in danger. We don't "rob" him by taking cord blood to freeze.

Training

Whole cord blood is delivered to the laboratory, where it goes through several stages of testing and processing. First of all, samples are examined for various infectious diseases and bacterial contamination.

If markers of HIV, hepatitis and some other infections are found in the sample, then such blood is considered unsuitable for further use.

The next step is to separate the stem cells from the mass of red blood cells and plasma. For this, several methods are used. The simplest of the techniques is to carry out sedimentation using 6% hydroxyethyl starch.

The second technique is the use of automatic cell separators. An example of such equipment is the Sepax automatic cord blood cell separator manufactured by the Swiss company Biosafe.

The automatic method has several advantages:

• high result of stem cell isolation (about 97% versus 60% obtained by other methods);
• there is no dependence of the result of the allocation on the training of personnel;
• contamination of samples with bacteria, fungi or viruses during work with the material is excluded.

After the stem cells are separated from the rest, they are placed in a special plastic bag or tubes with a cryoprotectant, a substance that protects the cells from damage during the freezing and thawing process. The output is usually 5-7 cryovials with stem cells. A few more satellite tubes with plasma and blood cells are frozen together with stem cell samples so that the necessary tests can be carried out in the future and not waste valuable biological material on them.

Ready-made bags or tubes are frozen using special techniques that contribute to greater cell survival after thawing. To do this, first, the samples are frozen to a temperature of -90 ° C, then the temperature is gradually lowered to -150 ° C and kept in such conditions until the end of the quarantine period, while the material is being tested for viruses and bacterial contamination.

After the quarantine ends, the samples are transferred to permanent storage, where the temperature is maintained at -196 ° C.

Storage

Stem cells are stored in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196 ° C. Currently, there is evidence that even after 20 years, stem cells retain their properties after thawing. This does not mean at all that after 20 years of storage the sample will become unusable.

This means that the first cord blood bank was opened about 20 years ago, and researchers still do not have any more real facts about how long cells can be stored without losing their viability.

Some cells die during freezing and thawing. But usually there are no more than 25% of such cells, and the rest of their number is quite enough to carry out the necessary treatment.

Application

According to statistics, personalized stem cell samples are rarely in demand at present. Much more often, specialists turn to state registrar banks to select suitable stem cell samples. On average, every thousandth unnamed sample is in demand. But year by year, indications for the use of stem cells are expanding, so the demand for nameless samples, and the likelihood that the owner will need his name sample, will grow.

Pros and cons

Modern parents hear about the possibility of saving the baby's umbilical cord blood more and more often. But, as practice shows, the information that parents receive in this case is often incomplete, if not one-sided. First of all, they try to convey to parents that leukemia and other diseases of the hematopoietic system can be treated with stem cells.

At the same time, each adult considers the probability of developing such a disease in his child doubtful, since the risk of developing oncology in children is not so high. If future parents know that the storage of stem cells is intended not only for the treatment of leukemia, but also for the restoration of any part of the nervous system after an injury, the treatment of diabetes without drugs, the restoration of the heart muscle after a heart attack, the restoration of joints that have collapsed as a result of degenerative diseases (arthrosis ), then their attitude to the procedure will be different.

Currently, the motivating motives for parents are:

• the presence of a genetic disease in one of the parents with a risk of transmitting this disease to the child;
• the presence of health problems in the first child in the family;
• "biological insurance" in case of illness for the child himself and for any of his blood relatives.

Some families are deterred by the high cost of collecting and storing a cord blood sample. This can be understood: for a young family that is waiting for an addition, every penny is important, because spending on things that may be needed in the distant future seems unreasonable.

The only thing that can be cited as an argument in this case is the cost of a donor sample, which reaches 20,000-45,000 dollars. Raising such an amount for the average family is problematic, as evidenced by the numerous charitable fundraisers for treatment, which are replete with the Internet and the media.

Cord blood stem cell prices

The cost of collecting, preparing and storing a sample in Belarus

Cost of services in Ukraine

Service cost in Russia

A number of banks offer special conditions for their customers. This can be an installment payment or special service packages, when sampling, sample preparation, its freezing and storage for 15-20 years are paid at the same time. Buying a package is expensive, but in the long run, given the constant price increase, you can save a lot on storage.

Recently, on the eve of childbirth, expectant mothers are increasingly offered a new service - the collection of umbilical cord blood and sending it to a cryobank. This procedure is not cheap and costs several tens of thousands of rubles. What is it and who needs it?

The placenta and umbilical cord are the by-products of childbirth that are usually thrown away. And only recently, scientists have found that they contain the most useful components - the stem cells of the child. If collected, preserved, and then properly used, they can be of invaluable help in the treatment of many diseases.

What are stem cells

Stem cells are the universal cells of the body from which all other cells grow. This process is especially active in young children, slowing down with age. Each organ or type of tissue has its own stem cells - blood, skin, heart muscle, and so on.

The main type of stem cells that are used today are blood stem cells. Cord blood is their second most important source after bone marrow, but it has one indisputable advantage over it: there is no need to look for a suitable donor, since the donor and recipient are the same person. In addition, the baby's stem cells are suitable not only for himself, but also with a high probability for his closest relatives: brother, sister or parents.

Already today, cord blood stem cells can be used to treat more than 80 blood diseases - these are leukemia, leukemia, severe forms of anemia (anemia), blood clotting disorders, as well as some malformations. However, scientists around the world are actively conducting research, trying to expand the scope of their application and teach them to turn into cells of other organs, such as the heart, liver, blood vessels. This will allow doctors to literally work miracles - to restore dead tissues, for example, the heart after a heart attack, or a liver damaged by cirrhosis. And such operations are already being carried out in scientific laboratories.

When is cord blood collection necessary?

Of course, the probability of a serious illness in a healthy child, and therefore the fact that the stored cells will be useful to the infant himself, is very, very small. But there are some situations in which cord blood collection becomes more relevant:

- If problems were found during screening or ultrasound during pregnancy, such as malformations;
- If the child's closest relatives had blood diseases - leukemia, leukemia, lymphomas, lymphogranulomatosis;
– In those families where there is already a child with blood diseases, the stem cells of his brother or sister are best suited for treatment;
- If the father and mother of the child are of different nationalities, since in this case the risk of blood diseases is higher;
- If the pregnancy occurred as a result of IVF;
— If there is any concern and possibility that stem cells may be useful in the near future.

How is the procedure

The procedure for collecting cord blood is absolutely safe for all its participants - both for mother and baby. Blood is taken from the umbilical cord after it has been cut. This procedure is performed by a midwife, who must be warned in advance and prepared a cord blood collection kit, which is issued by a cryobank. Collection is possible both after natural childbirth and after caesarean section.

After collecting blood in a special container with protection against clotting, it is transported to a bank with which the parents have an agreement. There, the blood is processed in a special way, stem cells are extracted from it, and the liquid part is sent for tests - HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, cytomegalovirus.

Next, the stem cells are placed in a special sealed container for freezing: it can be a cryobag or test tubes. Many banks provide the option to choose a container. The storage bag is the gold standard and, if necessary, it is accepted by any clinics abroad. But there is a downside: cells from a bag can only be used once, unlike tubes, which can be thawed one at a time and used several times. However, test tubes are not currently accepted in all clinics in Russia and are not accepted at all in Europe, and it will be possible to use them only in the distant future.

Each stem cell sample is provided with several so-called satellite tubes from the same blood. This is done so that, if necessary, additional analyzes can be carried out without thawing the main sample.

Finally, a cryoprotectant is added to the container with stem cells - a substance that prevents cell death during freezing, and it is sent for freezing along with satellite test tubes. First, very slow freezing to -80°C takes place in a special installation, and then the samples are transferred to storage in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196°C. Such a low temperature ensures long-term storage without loss of cell viability for decades.

Can defrosting occur in the event of a power outage in the bank? Usually for such cases, all banks have double protection and their own generator. In addition, blood is stored in special vessels (dewars) with liquid nitrogen, the operation of which largely depends on the regular supply of new batches of liquid nitrogen. Therefore, the organization of the process plays a more important role here than external accidents.

When the bank fails

There are very few situations where stem cell banks refuse to accept material. This is usually due to infection in the sample: either the blood was infected during collection at the maternity hospital with bacteria and fungi, or the results of blood tests revealed the presence of HIV, hepatitis or syphilis in it.

It is not advisable to store cord blood stem cells even if signs of tumor diseases and leukemia cells are detected in it. This becomes clear at the stage of isolation, selection of stem cells and their determination under a microscope.

Stem cell banks in Russia

The stem cell bank carries out all procedures for the preparation and storage of stem cells. It is with him that you need to conclude a contract for storage, he issues a system for collecting blood in the maternity hospital, and after placing the sample in storage - a personal identification certificate. In total, there are about 200 cord blood banks in the world, about 11 in Russia.

Russia

- Gemabank - created on the basis of the Cancer Center named after. N.N. Blokhin (Moscow) and is a division of the Russian biotechnology company "".
- Cryocenter - on the basis of the Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.
— Bank of stem cells of the Perinatal Medical Center, Moscow, www.perinatalmedcenter.ru, www.bank-pmc.ru.
— Bank of the Clinical Center for Cellular Technologies, Samara, a public health institution of the Samara Region.
— Pokrovsky Bank of Human Stem Cells – private, St. Petersburg.
— Bank of the Trans-Technologies company, St. Petersburg.

stem cell transplant

Transplantation today in most cases is carried out intravenously. But every day technologies are improving, and soon it will be possible to transplant stem cells directly into a diseased organ.

If suddenly a child has a problem in which his stem cells are useful, the bank issues samples and delivers them to the medical institution where the transplant will be performed.

Where is blood stem cell transplantation performed?

Moscow
— FGBU Russian Children's Clinical Hospital, www.rdkb.ru
— Russian Cancer Research Center named after A.I. Blokhin, www.ronc.ru
— Federal State Budgetary Institution Hematological Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences
— FBU Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Burdenko, www.gvkg.ru
— Central Children's Clinical Hospital of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, www.dkb38.ru
— Federal State Budgetary Institution Federal Medical Biophysical Center. Burnazyan, www.fmbcfmba.ru

St. Petersburg
— Military Medical Academy
— Research Institute of Hematology and Transfusiology
— State Medical University. Pavlova (Gorbacheva Institute of Pediatric Hematology)

Russia
— Yekaterinburg, City Hospital No. 7
— Yekaterinburg, Regional Hospital No. 1
— Novosibirsk, Institute of Clinical Immunology
— Samara, regional hospital
— Yaroslavl, Regional Clinical Hospital

In many countries, the collection and preservation of cord blood is common, and medical studies have shown that cord blood has medicinal properties and can even save lives. Some clinics offer cord blood collection and storage. But since the service is far from cheap, it is worthwhile to figure out how these expenses will be justified and why such a service is needed.

Cord blood is not similar to ordinary blood, it has no analogue. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it contains stem cells. Stem cells are a kind of blood precells, from which blood cells (erythrocytes, platelets, leukocytes) are subsequently formed. Today, stem cell transplantation (transplantation) is successfully used to treat pathologies, and research on how to use blood collected from the vein of the umbilical cord of the fetus is constantly updated with new encouraging data.

Fetal cord blood is a unique biomaterial. Its medicinal properties first attracted attention and have been carefully studied since 1988, when stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood were injected into a child with a fatal disease and he was cured. This gave hope to many terminally ill people. Since then, medical research into the study and application of stem cells has advanced.