Impact of maternal and neonatal factors on parameters of hematopoietic potential in umbilical cord blood

OBJECTIVES To determine characteristics of laboratory parameters of hematopoietic potential in umbilical cord blood and their association with maternal and neonatal factors.  METHODS This prospective analysis was performed on 206 umbilical cord blood donations (50-200 ml) from King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between January and September 2014. Samples were processed and analyzed for total nucleated cells (TNC's), cluster designation (CD)45+, CD34+ counts, nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) count, and viability testing.   RESULTS Most of the study participants (63.6%) were on their first 3 deliveries and from women with age between 17 and 30 years (80.6%). The donated volume was 50.4-192.4 ml, TNCs ranged from 500.2×106 to 9430.3 ×106 cells, and CD34+ cells ranged from 1.25×106 to 12.82×106/unit. The volume was positively affected by bigger birth weight of the baby (p less than 0.0001), larger placenta (p=0.001), TNCs (p less than 0.0001), CD34+ (p less than 0.0001), NRBCs (p less than 0.0001), and viability (p=0.002). There were no statistically significant differences between baby boys and girls for laboratory variables.   CONCLUSION In the selection and identification of a possible donor of umbilical cord blood, several maternal and neonatal factors should be considered, as younger maternal age, neonatal birth weight greater than 3300 grams, larger placental size, and first or second-born babies, were shown to be associated with higher TNCs, CD34+, CD45+, NRBCs, and viability.