A potentially game-changing treatment for brain injuries in preterm babies is being trialed at Monash Children’s Hospital.Researchers from Monash Health, Monash University, and the Hudson Institute of Medical Research are using stem cells from cord blood units donated by families after the birth of a full-term baby to help protect the brains of premature babies.
The ALLO Trial is recruiting participants to test the feasibility and safety of using unrelated, banked cord blood derived stem cells in premature babies with significant brain injury.Researchers hope the therapy will provide a natural protective shield for infants’ brains, as umbilical stem cells have been shown to have anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and other protective effects on the developing brain.
The research follows a world-first trial by Monash Health and Monash University published last year, which showed infusing preterm babies with stem cells derived from their own umbilical cord was not only feasible and safe in many cases but may protect the baby from brain damage.
Giving families hope
New parents Hua Nguyen and Ngan Troung decided to enroll their daughter, Alina, in the ALLO trial after learning she had suffered a brain injury.
Born at just under 26 weeks gestation, Alina spent 4 months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Monash Children’s Hospital.
‘We have become very good at keeping preterm babies alive, but unfortunately, some of these babies suffer a brain injury. And these brain injuries can have consequences down the line, such as cerebral palsy and developmental problems,’ neonatologist and Head of the Early Neurodevelopment Clinic at Monash Children’s Hospital, Associate Professor Atul Malhotra told SBS News.
Donor cord blood
Cord blood is sourced from the BMDI Cord Blood Bank, one of 3 public cord blood banks in Australia, where mothers have the opportunity to consent to their cord blood being used for clinical research.
Lead researcher, Associate Professor Malhotra, said getting the stem cell-rich blood from the umbilical cord of a very small preterm baby can be difficult and there isn’t that much to collect.
‘The ability to use stem cells from public cord blood banks to use as a preventative measure against brain damage in preterm babies could be transformational.’
‘When we designed this feasibility study we thought that if we get 60 per cent of babies having a matched cord in the public cord blood bank that would be great. We are seeing 100 per cent — not a single baby hasn’t found a match, which is really exciting’, Associate Professor Malhotra told the Herald Sun.
