Birthweight of full‐term infants is associated with cord blood CD34⁺ cell concentration

Abstract

Aim: CD34+ cell counts are used to define the haematopoietic stem cell potential of a given cord blood transplant. The aim was to test the hypothesis that high concentration of cord blood haematopoietic progenitor and stem cells could be a reflection of intrauterine growth, of which birthweight is an indicator. Methods: Simple and multiple regression analyses were applied to test cord blood bank data on 1368 infants for associations of selected obstetric factors and cellular contents of cord blood. Results: When groups were formed based on the extreme values (5th versus 95th percentiles) of a given variable, e.g. birthweight, the term infants having the highest birthweights were found to have statistically significantly higher median cord blood CD34+ cell concentrations. Also, infants in the top 50th percentile of relative birthweight had higher median CD34+ cell concentration than infants in the low 50th percentile. In multiple regression analysis, the correlation between birthweight and CD34+ cell concentration was statistically clearly significant. Notably, while an expected correlation between gestational age and nucleated cell concentration was found, there was no association between infant gestational age and CD34+ cell concentration. Conclusion: Haematopoietic progenitor and stem cells may reflect intrauterine growth and have a more central role in foetal development than has been reported earlier.

Correlation of umbilical cord blood haematopoietic stem and progenitor cell levels with birth weight: implications for a prenatal influence on cancer risk

“…This association is strongest with CD34 þ CD38 À cells, a relatively primitive haematopoietic stem cell population. These data are in line with previous studies, which showed a positive relationship between cord blood CD34 þ or CFU-GM levels and birth weight (Shlebak et al, 1998;Ballen et al, 2001;Aroviita et al, 2004). However, in our study, newborns in the lowest birth weight category (o3000 g) can have higher levels of stem/progenitor cell measurements than those with 3000 -3499 g birth weight resulting in a J-or U-shaped relation between stem cell levels and birth weight.…”

Association of cord blood platelet characteristics and hematopoietic progenitor cells

“…The performance of the analyses was evaluated in an external quality control (QC) scheme six times a year (NEQAS, Sheffield, UK; adult CD34+ cells). To exclude the confounding effect of the varying anticoagulant‐blood ratio due to CB collection techniques, CB CD34+, nucleated cell (NC), and PLT concentrations were standardized as described previously 30 …”

Association of cord blood platelet count and volume with hemoglobin in healthy term infants

“…All cell concentrations were standardized to exclude the varying anticoagulant-to-blood ratio inherent to CB banking. 9 Cell counting was performed in the quality control unit of the national blood service with the exception of the CD34 þ cell counts analyzed in the CB bank. The neonatal (placental) blood cell counts are speculated to reflect the general hematopoietic activity.…”

“…All cell concentrations were standardized to exclude the effect of a varying anticoagulant-to-blood ratio. 9 CD34 þ cell enumeration Enumeration of CD34 þ cells in collected CB was achieved with a flow cytometer (FACSCalibur; Becton Dickinson, San Jose, CA, USA) with a gating strategy based on ISHAGE guidelines, as previously described. 21 …”

“…[1][2][3][4] A number of CB banks collect and store placental blood from healthy infants after uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery. 5,6 Data from CB banks have offered an acceptable alternative for studying blood cell physiology, such as CD34 þ cells, [7][8][9] because it can be demanding to ethically justify blood sampling from healthy newborn infants.…”