Cord Blood Stem Cells May Help Repair Babies Heart Defects

May 26, 2009 - PRLog -- Umbilical cord blood, rich in stem cells, may provide raw material to repair the hearts of thousands of babies born each year with defective heart valves, according to researchers.

Heart valve abnormalities are one of the most common kinds of inherited heart defects. In these babies, the valves are too narrow or don’t close as they should, keeping blood from flowing properly. While surgeons can transplant new valves from human or animal donors, or from artificial material, these valves won’t grow as children do, forcing kids to undergo repeated operations to outfit them with new, larger valves.

The next step is to test the procedure by implanting heart valves made in this way into the hearts of young lambs, then watching to see how they grow and function over time.

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood, like adult stem cells found in the mature tissues of developed humans, have the potential to form many kinds of cells that can repair or replace damage to organs of the body. Since the umbilical cord stem cells aren’t derived from human embryos, they don’t raise ethical objections.

Stem cells from human embryos are more versatile, however, since they are able to form any of the roughly 210 cell types found in the body.

Contact http://www.cryobanksindia.com/ for more info on cord blood banking.

# # #

Cryobanks International India a JV between Cryobanks International USA and RJ Corp founded in 2006. Cryobanks International is a leader in the collection, processing and banking of umbilical cord blood stem cells.