Supporting research into preventing brain damage in preterm babies

The Co-Group was proud to donate $25,000 via Cerebral Palsy Alliance for research into using stem cells to prevent brain damage in preterm babies.

Conducted by Dr Atul Malhotra and team at Monash University, this Australian first study, conducted the first attempts to collect umbilical cord blood cells from very preterm babies, a view to using them to reduce their increased risk of brain injury and disability.

Cord blood is the blood left in the umbilical cord and placenta of newborn babies after birth. It is rich in stem cells which can be used to help protect, repair and grow cells in the body. These cells have shown strong promise as a treatment for neonatal brain injury in pre-clinical models and early-phase clinical trials.

The results:

The researchers took cord blood from 38 infants born before 28 weeks' gestation. Babies born extremely preterm (<28 weeks) have a high chance of long-term developmental issues, including cerebral palsy, and learning and behavioural issues.

The average age of the baby in this study was 26 weeks' gestation, and the average birth weight was 761.5 grams.

The researchers were able to collect an average of 19 ml/kg of cord blood from these preterm babies, which is similar to term babies by body weight. The procedure was successful in 72% of cases.

According to Professor Malhotra, these findings are important, “because we have shown we can collect these cells in extremely small babies, and can now use them in the CORD-SAFE study currently underway at the Monash Children’s Hospital.”

The paper from this study was published in Cytotherapy journal and can be found in full here: Feasibility of cord blood collection for autologous cell therapy applications in extremely preterm infants.