A Hallmark Clinical Study of Cord Blood Therapy in Adults with Ischemic Stroke

The therapeutic application of human umbilical cord blood cells has been an area of great interest for at least the last 25 years. Currently, cord blood cells are approved for reconstitution of the bone marrow following myeloablation in both young and old patients with myeloid malignancies and other blood cancers. Translational studies investigating alternative uses of cord blood have also shown that these cells not only stimulate neurogenesis in the aged brain but are also potentially therapeutic in the treatment of adult neurodegenerative disorders including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, and Parkinson’s disease. Recent advances in the clinical application of cord blood cells by Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg and colleagues have found that non-HLA matched allogeneic banked cord blood units in immunocompetent patients with ischemic stroke are safe and well tolerated. Although the exact mechanism(s) of action that provide the beneficial effects observed from a cord blood cell-based therapy are currently unknown, several studies using models of neurodegenerative disease have shown these cells are immune-modulatory and anti-inflammatory. Thus, any future clinical studies investigating the efficacy of this cord blood cell therapeutic would strongly benefit from the inclusion of methodologies to determine changes in both markers of inflammation and the response of immune tissues, such as the spleen, in subjects receiving cell infusion.