Cord Blood Viability and Factors That Affect Its Quality

Cell viability is a critical issue in the biobank industry. When parents decide to bank the umbilical cord blood of their baby, they do so with the hope that in future it will help in treating conditions like leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and other critical life-threatening diseases if needed. Cell viability is an important indicator of the quality of the umbilical cord blood and can influence the outcome of the transplant. The number of stem cells that persist in the umbilical cord blood unit is limited and that renders the viability of cord blood in the preservation of stem cells.

Several factors affect the quality of stored umbilical cord blood. If anyone is compromised it affects the viability of the stem cell.

Collection Procedure

Collection procedure plays an extremely important role in the future viability of umbilical cord blood. Baby stem cell collection requires a proper protocol. If the collection is not done according to the proper protocol then it can immensely impact the quality of the stem cells procured from the collected umbilical cord blood. The umbilical cord blood should be collected using a single bag. Blood should be collected by inserting a needle proximal to the clamp and keeping the cannulation site below the placenta level. The free flow of blood should be allowed. Thermocol boxes at room temperature are not ideal for the collection and storage of umbilical cord blood and they should be discarded.

Volume Reduction

Volume reduction is an important step after the collection of the umbilical cord blood. Cord blood banks usually use the centrifugation method to compress the volume of blood. Ideally, within a couple of hours, the separation of plasma columns happens under gravity. The separation of the plasma columns depends on the hematocrit of the umbilical cord blood.

Cryopreservation Protocols

After the separation of the Plasma-Lyte, they are mixed with the cryopreservation mixtures. The cryopreservative contains DMSO and they are mixed with the cold Plasma-Lyte. After volume reduction, the final product is transferred to a fresh tube and product volume is noted. Cold cryoprotectant mixture is added in equal volume slowly by directly trickling from the sidewall of the Falcon tube. The final pre-cryopreservation product mixture is quickly transferred to a cryogenic pouch and stored in a refrigerator at a temperature of -800 degrees Celsius. The temperature of the refrigerator is continuously monitored.