Sterility of cord blood units: Evaluation of the collection, preparation and conservation process with a view to establishing a bank of stem cells from cord blood at the Biological Resources Center of the Institut Pasteur de Côte d'Ivoire (2024)

Introduction: Cord blood stem cells are used as an alternative to bone marrow and peripheral blood cell transplantation. For this purpose, cord blood banks have been established worldwide for the collection and cryopreservation of cord blood units. These banks must implement rigorous protocols to ensure the microbiological safety of grafts. The aim of this study is to evaluate the process of selecting mothers and collecting and processing these samples developed for this purpose. Methodology: Pregnant women were enrolled in the study on the basis of selection criteria. Maternal blood and cord blood samples were collected by the in utero method. Serological analyses of maternal blood for the detection of vertically transmitted infections and microbiological examinations of cord blood units were carried out. Results: 31 women out of 46 (68.4%) were enrolled. All had negative serology for the targeted pathogens. Similarly, microbiology revealed no microbial contamination of the cord blood units. Conclusion: This work demonstrates that the procedures for selecting mothers and processing implementations are effective in ensuring the microbiological safety of cord blood units and could be suggested in the context of banking cord blood stem cells at the Institut Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire.