Is Cord Blood and Tissue Banking Worth The Hype?

The placenta takes care of the nourishment and development of a baby growing inside the uterus. Some parts of this organ originate from the mother's side, while some are from the baby's side. The placenta is valuable for the baby and the mother even after birth. Despite medical science lacking evidence, placenta ingestion and encapsulation are known for their benefits. Parents can store placenta tissue for future use in some private cord blood banks. But is it worth it? Let us try to find it out.

Benefits of cord blood and tissue banking

After delivery, parents get the option of banking their baby’s placental stem cells. They can store the cord blood in some cord blood banks for an additional cost. Many valuable stem cells are common in the placenta and cord tissue. However, cord tissue is the preferable source of extracting stem cells of fetal origin. The primary medical schools of the world are using MSCs from cord tissue instead of the placenta for their clinical trials. Cord blood and tissue banking are used for various conditions treatment as autism, cartilage injury, cerebral palsy, and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) induced by COVID-19.

Some old studies about animal models offer promising results in several respiratory conditions treatment other than ARDS. In more recent cases, MSC therapy is effective in treating COVID-19. The same was published in a peer-reviewed journal. Seven patients were observed for fourteen days, and it was found the pulmonary function and COVID-19 pneumonia symptoms of three patients improved within two days of the MSCs transplant.

Additionally, the Marcus Center of Cellular Cures at Duke University initiated a study to test if the helpfulness of umbilical cord MSCs on acute respiratory syndrome (ARDS) is associated with COVID-19 infection. The co-principal investigators of this cord blood and tissue banking trials are Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke University and Cryo-Cell’s Medical Director.

Umbilical cord tissue: a pure source of fetal stem cells

The placenta has portions of both maternal and fetal origin. The amnion, umbilical cord, and chorion are parts of the fetal side, whereas the maternal side has the decidua. The fetal side functions to receive the baby’s blood from the umbilical cord, and the maternal side provides oxygen to the baby and eliminates waste from the baby's blood. Many stem cells found in cord tissue are also present in the placenta. But the stem cells taken from umbilical cord tissue are a pure source of fetal stem cells.

Stem cells from the placenta are contaminated with trace quantities of maternal cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the most popular type of stem cell used in clinical applications. Although MSCs are found in the placenta, studies show that MSCs derived from umbilical cord tissue are preferred. The fetal MSCs have a higher expansion capacity, immunosuppressive capability, and lower immunogenicity despite sharing a similar phenotype with the maternal MSCs counterpart.