Aim: To compare the numbers of cord blood CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) between preeclampsia (PE) and control (non-PE) subjects and to determine the factors that may influence this observation. Methods: Umbilical cord blood was collected from 28 PE and 19 non-PE subjects. Nucleated and CD34+ cell counts were derived using the Trucount tube-based stem cell enumeration kit on BD FACSCalibur. Results: The cord blood volume, nucleated and CD34+ cell counts were significantly reduced in PE subjects compared to non-PE subjects. Among the PE subjects, systolic and diastolic blood pressure demonstrated a negative correlation with total nucleated and CD34 + cell counts. Gestational age at delivery influenced cord blood volume and nucleated cell counts, but not CD34 + cell counts. Birth weight and placental weight correlated strongly with cord blood volume, and nucleated and CD34 + cell counts. There were no correlations observed between cord blood parameters and maternal age, maternal white cell count, gravidity, route of delivery or neonatal gender among PE subjects. Conclusion: Preeclampsia has a negative impact on the yield of HSC obtained from cord blood at delivery. Maternal blood pressure, neonatal birth weight and placental weight are important factors influencing the numbers of cord blood HSC. These findings should be taken into consideration when selecting cord blood units from mothers with PE for banking. Selecting the heaviest term neonate might improve the yield of cord blood HSC obtained from PE mothers.

Background: The in utero environment has many factors that can support cell differentiation. Cytokines, chemokines and growth factors play big roles in haematopoietic mechanisms. Some diseases like gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) might affect the environment and haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) quality. The aim of this study is to investigate the adverse effects of GDM on umbilical cord blood (UCB) HSC in terms of differentiation potency including the UCB parameters used for banking and transplantation purposes.Methods: UCB-HSC was collected from 42 GDM and 38 normal pregnancies. UCB-HSC was isolated and further enriched using immuno-magnetic separation beads (MACS). The UCB-HSC were cultured in methylcellulose media to investigate the differentiation potency. The level of erythropoietin (EPO) and insulin in the UCB plasma was measured using enzyme linked immunoassay (ELISA) technique.Result: The UCB parameters; volume, total nucleated count (TNC) and total CD34+ cells were significantly reduced in the GDM group compared to the control group. The number of HSC progenitors' colonies were significantly reduced in the GDM group except for progenitor BFU-E, which was significantly increased (GDM = 94.19 ± 6.21, Control = 73.61 ± 2.73, p = 0.010). This data was associated with higher EPO level in GDM group. However, the insulin level in the GDM group was comparable to the Control group.Conclusion: Our results suggest that the changes in the in utero environment due to abnormalities during pregnancy such as GDM might affect the differentiation potency of UCB-HSC. These findings can be considered as an additional parameter for the inclusion and exclusion criteria for UCB banking, particularly for mothers with GDM.

Background Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has been proposed as the potential source of haematopoietic stem cells (HSC) for allogeneic transplantation. However, few studies have shown that a common disease in pregnancy such as preeclampsia would affect the quality of UCB-HSC. Total nucleated cell count (TNC) is an important parameter that can be used to predict engraftment including UCB banking. Colony forming unit (CFU) assay is widely used as an indicator to predict the success of engraftment, since direct quantitative assay for HSC proliferation is unavailable. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of preeclampsia in pregnancy on the stemness and differentiation potency of UCB-HSC. Methods Mononuclear cells (MNC) were isolated from UCB and further enriched for CD34+ cells using immune-magnetic method followed by CFU assay. A panel of HSC markers including differentiated haematopoietic markers were used to confirm the differentiation ability of UCB-HSC by flow cytometry analysis. Results/ discussion The HSC progenitor’s colonies from the preeclampsia group were significantly lower compared to the control. This correlates with the low UCB volume, TNC and CD34+ cells count. In addition, the UCB-enriched CD34+ population were lymphoid progenitors and capable to differentiate into natural killer cells and T-lymphocytes. Conclusion These findings should be taken into consideration when selecting UCB from preeclamptic mothers for banking and predicting successful treatment related to UCB transplant.

Solitary plasmacytoma (SP) is a tumor with evidence of clonal plasma cells and no other features of multiple myeloma (MM).We report a case of SP which showed multiple recurrences of SP and then evolution into overt MM. A 56-year-old man presented with the 5-month-history of right nasal obstruction and intermittent epistaxis. He had SP (extraosseous) of right nasopharynx (3.5 × 2 × 2.5 cm), with no paraproteinaemia. He received radiotherapy (56 Gy), achieving complete remission. Ten years later, he had recurrence of SP (osseous) in left tibia, presenting with pathological fracture. He received radiotherapy (50 Gy), achieving partial response. Three years later, he had recurrence of SP (osseous) in right tibia, presenting with right leg pain. He received radiotherapy (45 Gy). While receiving treatment, he had progressive swelling in the area around right eye, double vision and headache. Imaging scans showed multiple plasmacytomas. There were presence of monoclonal paraprotein, hypercalcemia and lytic bone lesions. He was diagnosed as MM (at the age of 70 years) and treated with Bortezomib-based therapy. Currently, after one cycle of treatment, clinical improvement is achieved. The importance of multi-disciplinary team approach for managing patients with plasmacytoma is highlighted in order to achieve the holistic approach of management.

Background The in utero environment has many factors that can support cell differentiation. Cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors play big roles in haematopoietic mechanisms. Some diseases like gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) might affect the environment and quality of haematopoietic stem cell (HSC). This study aims to investigate the adverse effects of GDM on umbilical cord blood (UCB) HSC regarding its differentiation potency, including the UCB parameters used for banking and transplantation purposes. Methods UCB-HSC was collected from 42 GDM and 38 normal pregnancies. UCB-HSC was isolated and further enriched using immuno-magnetic separation beads (MACS). The UCB-HSC were cultured in methylcellulose media to investigate the differentiation potency. The level of erythropoietin (EPO) and insulin in the UCB plasma was measured using enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) technique. Results The UCB parameters, i.e., volume, total nucleated count (TNC), and total CD34+ cells, were significantly reduced in the GDM group compared to the control group. The number of HSC progenitor colonies was significantly reduced in the GDM group, except for progenitor BFU-E, which was significantly increased (GDM = 94.19 ± 6.21, Control = 73.61 ± 2.73, p = 0.010). This data was associated with a higher EPO level in the GDM group. However, the insulin level in the GDM group was comparable to the control group. Conclusion Our results suggest that the changes in the in utero environment due to abnormalities during pregnancy, such as GDM might affect the differentiation potency of UCB-HSC. These findings can be considered as an additional parameter for the inclusion and exclusion criteria for UCB banking, particularly for mothers with GDM.