Effect of short-term in vitro antibiotic administration into the human umbilical cord tissue on cfu count and mesenchymal stem cell immunophenotype

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells play important roles in regenerative and reparative medicine applications. Their differentiation and proliferation abilities both in the human body and in the laboratory, environment have been revealed through many clinical and pre-clinical trials. Umbilical cord tissue is an important source of mesenchymal stem cells and has become a popular option in cord blood banking, especially in the last decade. As done for the cord blood, the steps of obtaining, transferring, processing, and cryopreserving umbilical cord tissue are defined by standard procedures. However, there is limited information about the microbiological contamination rate of tissues and their decontamination before the procedure. This study aimed to assess the effect of in vitro short-term antibiotic treatment applied to the umbilical cord tissue obtained via superficial ethanol disinfection immediately after birth on the formation of colony-forming units (CFUs) and immunophenotype of the mesenchymal stem cells. For this purpose, tissues obtained from 10 individuals were evaluated in three different groups that included the control group and groups of tissues with 5- and 10-min antibiotic treatment. There was no significant difference among the groups in the expression levels of CD45, CD34, CD73, CD105, and CD44, which are the markers used in immunophenotyping. Similarly, no difference was found in CFU formation either. The present study has revealed for the first time that an antibiotic preparation used in in vitro cell culture for cord tissue banking can be used safely in tissue preparation and banking stages. Our results show that short-term in vitro antibiotic administration can contribute to the standard formation during decontamination/disinfection stages in cord tissue banking.