15th Noveber worldwidely is dedicated to cord blood

Dr. Kouzi

Meta-Analysis of Cord Blood for Cerebral Palsy November 2023

Megan Finch-Edmondson, PhD, on behalf of the study team Megan Finch-Edmondson, PhD, lead author Introduction to cerebral palsy: Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term that describes a group of disorders affecting a person’s movement and posture. Cerebral palsy is a life-long condition that arises from injury to the brain during development, usually before, during or shortly after birth. Cerebral palsy is a highly variable condition. Symptoms may include difficulties in walking, balance and motor control, eating, swallowing, speech or coordination of eye movements. Cerebral palsy can vary in the way it affects an individual’s movement (type), the part of the body affected (topography) and by how severe the symptoms are (severity), which can be measured using the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). In addition, people with cerebral palsy may also experience other impairments or co-occurring conditions such as epilepsy, behaviour disorders, or vision or hearing impairments. What treatments exist? Numerous interventions exist that help people with cerebral palsy to develop and maintain their functional skills as well as reduce the symptoms of cerebral palsy. These include various rehabilitative and medical interventions such as physical, occupational, and speech therapies, as well as botox injections, oral or intrathecal baclofen and even surgery to manage muscle stiffness and contractures. Currently there are no available treatments that directly target the underlying brain injury to improve function and quality of life. Why cell therapies? There is significant interest in investigating cell therapies such as umbilical cord blood as a treatment for cerebral palsy. This is because umbilical cord blood contains a variety of stem and progenitor cells that have been shown to be beneficial following a brain injury in laboratory research. These benefits include reducing inflammation and cell death, and promoting repair following a brain injury, mainly via release of cellular factors (“trophic mechanisms”). This may help to reduce the size or severity of an injury, and/or improve the connections within the brain. Cord blood for cerebral palsy: The earliest reported infusions of umbilical cord blood for cerebral palsy date back nearly 20 years. This was included in a paper published by Sun et al. in 2010 in which 140 children with cerebral palsy received autologous (their own) umbilical cord blood from March 2004 to December 20093. Since then, numerous studies have been published, with a 2021 review finding nearly 800 individuals with cerebral palsy had been treated with umbilical cord blood across all phases of clinical studies, including six medium/large randomised placebo-controlled trials. A 2016 systematic review concluded that cord blood treatment is safe and more effective than rehabilitation alone in improving gross motor function. Τhe study also suggested that umbilical cord blood treatment in children with cerebral palsy improved gross motor skills more than controls, and that higher cell dose and repeated treatments are  likely beneficial, with data presented for the 6-month follow up timepoint.

 https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/meta-analysis-cord-blood-cerebral-palsy

Properly cryopreserved cord blood stem cells are effectively immortal

Dr. Kouzi

How Long Can Cord Blood Be Stored? October 2023  

 The cryogenic storage of cord blood was pioneered by Dr. Hal Broxmeyer at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He preserved the cord blood for the world’s first cord blood transplant in 1988: the cord blood from newborn Alison Farrow was frozen and shipped to Paris to treat her brother Matt Farrow. Over the decades since then, Broxmeyer’s laboratory has demonstrated that cryopreserved cord blood is still viable after 5, 10, 15, and 23.5 years in frozen storage. Dr. Hal Broxmeyer passed away in 2021, but his laboratory team has continued his work and in summer 2023 they published a demonstration that cryopreserved cord blood is still viable after 27 years in frozen storage. The existing research shows that when cord blood is properly cryopreserved, it does not seem to age at all. In Nov. 2018, Australia’s BMDI public cord blood bank announced that they had successfully transplanted a leukemia patient with a donor cord blood unit that had been in storage for 20 years. In May 2023, it was reported at the 10th Cord Blood Conference of the China Maternal and Child Health Association that a young adult in China had been cured of aplastic anemia with their own cord blood that had been in storage for 19 years. Before cord blood banking was invented, scientists were already cryopreserving cells for the purpose of animal husbandry, where it is desirable to save semen from high value studs. The record for the oldest cryopreserved sperm to yield live births is held by sheep that were conceived with semen that had been frozen at Australia’s Sydney Institute of Agriculture for 50 years. Their laboratory reported that the live birth rate from the half-century-old sperm was equivalent to sperm that had been in storage for one year. The human record for live births from cryopreserved sperm is held by twins that were conceived through in vitro fertilization using semen that had be stored for 40 years. To conclude, researchers agree that properly cryopreserved stem cells are effectively immortal. To learn more about cord blood banking, visit Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation at https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/how-long-can-cord-blood-be-stored

Cryopreserved cord blood stem cells saved his life 19 years later

Dr. Kouzi

Cured by his own cord blood 19 years later October 2023  

 The following story was reported in May 2023 at the 10th cord blood conference of the China Maternal and Child Health Association. The patient has been given the pseudonym “Xiao An”. In Chinese, “Xiao” is a gender-neutral name that is often translated as “dawn”, “little”, and “reverent of the elderly.”   "I didn't expect that the umbilical cord blood saved for the child would actually save the child's life 19 years later!" said the father of Xiaoan, an aplastic anemia patient, excitedly. In 2021, 18-year-old Xiao An suddenly suffered from aplastic anemia. Fortunately, the cord blood stored in Tianjin Umbilical Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank under Zhongyuan Concorde saved his life and he is recovering well. This is by far the longest storage of autologous cord blood used for therapy in China, creating a new record for self-storage and self-use of cord blood in China. Every time Xiaoan's parents recalled their decision to preserve their cord blood, they felt extremely grateful. When Xiaoan was born in 2003, domestic awareness of umbilical cord blood was still in its infancy. With the mentality of "preparation, multiple guarantees, and multiple peace of mind", they stored the umbilical cord blood for their children. It was this seed of life from Xiaoan himself that brought the fire of life back to him 19 years later. In December 2021, Xiaoan, who had just turned 18, suddenly developed symptoms such as ulcers and blood spots. After a series of examinations, Xiaoan was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. This severe attack can lead to complete bone marrow failure and death. While seeking treatment in many domestic hospitals, Xiaoan's parents learned that: At present, umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is one of the effective methods for treating aplastic anemia, and the cure rate of cord blood transplants with the patient’s own autologous cord blood is high. This gave Xiaoan's family, who had been shrouded in the haze of the disease, a new light of hope, because as early as 2003, when the child was born, Xiaoan's parents had stored umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells for the child in the Tianjin Cord Blood Bank. After Xiaoan's treatment plan for autologous umbilical cord blood transplantation was determined, the hospital and Xiaoan's parents contacted Tianjin Cord Blood Bank as soon as possible. Upon receiving the news, the staff of the cord blood bank immediately devoted themselves to the preparations for the release of the cord blood. Re-examination by professional technicians showed that the umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells that had been "sleeping" for 19 years were in good condition, and all indicators met the release standards. In December 2022, Xiaoan was transferred to Beijing Lu Daopei Hospital, a well-known specialized hospital for blood diseases in the country, and was officially prepared to receive a stem cell transplant. With the efforts of the staff, the precious cord blood was successfully delivered to the transplantation hospital. December 25, 2022 is of great significance to Xiaoan's family. After the all-out treatment  Xiaoan underwent reinfusion of umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells on the same day, and this precious seed of life returned to the owner smoothly. About a month later, Xiaoan was released from intensive care, and all physical indicators recovered well. He was discharged from the hospital in February of 2023 and returned to normal life. Xiao An is unfortunate, but also "lucky". Talking about the child's illness and treatment experience, Xiao An's parents are very grateful for storing the umbilical cord blood for the child. Umbilical cord blood is the blood collected from the umbilical vein after the baby is born and the umbilical cord is severed. It is rich in blood-forming “hematopoietic” stem cells and is of great help in the treatment of blood diseases. At present, with the continuous development of medical technology, umbilical cord blood has clinical application value in more than 80 diseases of the blood system and the metabolism. The popularization of umbilical cord blood storage technology will provide health protection for more families. In Xiaoan's treatment case, autologous cord blood played a positive role. At the same time, the mature storage technology and safety guarantee of Tianjin Cord Blood Bank have also been unanimously recognized by clinical experts. The autologous transplant successfully rekindled life across 19 years of time and space, and also guarded a healthy and happy future for a family. Disclaimer: In most countries, it is the policy of the medical community to try to find an unrelated donor for a patient with Aplastic Anemia. This is the case in the United States and in India. However, if an unrelated donor is not available, and if the Aplastic Anemia is considered to be “acquired” (triggered by a virus, and not due to inborn genetics), then doctors may restore the immune system that the patient had at birth by transplanting the patient’s own cord blood stem cells. Another example of this therapy is the story of Henrique in Portugal. References Tianjin Cord Blood Bank. Nineteen years like a day, holding up the "seed of life". Concord News. To learn more about cord blood banking, visit Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation at https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/cured-his-own-cord-blood-19-years-later

Umbilical Cord -Placenta unit stem cells in antiaging

Dr. Kouzi

Cord Blood and Anti-Aging October 2023  

 Does young blood hold the fountain of youth? Can transfusions of blood from younger donors reverse or slow down the aging process in an older recipient?

In experiments with mice, the answer is YES, although it is still unclear how it works, and the effect is not permanent. In 1864, the field of “Parabiosis” was invented when the physiologist Paul Bert connected two living mice so that they shared the same circulatory system. Experiments found that when a young mouse was connected to an old mouse, the old mouse was revitalized. However, mice that were connected in parabiosis typically only survived two weeks, probably due to the development of immunological rejections in each mouse against the foreign blood of the other mouse. Within the past 20 years, researchers have been revisiting the idea of parabiosis, but now using blood transfusions between mice without surgically connecting them. In 2014, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine found that infusions of young blood restores mental capabilities in old mice. Since then, it has become well established that giving blood from a young mouse to old mice reverses multiple symptoms of aging in their muscles and in the mouse brain. The opposite is also true, that giving blood from an old mouse to young mice triggers aging in multiple organs. But researchers do not believe that infusions of whole blood are needed to achieve this revitalization. They believe there are specific proteins or signaling factors in young blood which have this effect. For example, research groups have debated the importance and role of a protein called growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11). The goal of the ongoing studies is to identify the specific components of young blood that  can be purified as an elixir of youth.  The results from parabiosis studies in mice have inspired a series of clinical trials in humans where blood plasma from young donors is given to patients with Alzheimer’s dementia. The first publication from those trials in 2018 demonstrated that the procedure is safe. Of course, the youngest source of human blood is umbilical cord blood. The first study to give plasma from umbilical cord blood to elderly patients was published in Sept. 2022 and found that 20 biomarkers displayed beneficial changes which were statistically significant. Another study published in 2023 found that the reverse is also true, that inside the bodies of middle aged patients who received a cord blood transplant a few years ago, the blood cells from the cord blood  donors aged more more than twice as quickly as the elapsed time.  To learn more about cord blood banking, visit Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation at https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/cord-blood-and-anti-aging 

Aging is a systemic disease, which affects all cells and the composition of body fluids.The above scientific findings were then widely applied and used as a means of antiaging and increasing life expectancy. In addition to plasma and all types of stem cells contained in the umbilical cord blood and in the tissue of the placenta and umbilical cord slow down aging. Beyond the aesthetic restoration of scars, or maintaining youthful skin, renewing the aging immune system by administering young immune cells contained in the umbilical cord blood, is perhaps today the greatest gain for those who have saved their stem cells during childbirth. The belief that stem cells are only used for malignant and very serious conditions is slowly disappearing, as the newest findings show that those who have saved their stem cells during childbirth will use them at some stage in their lives not necessarily to treat serious disease, but to improve their quality of life.