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Could Umbilical Cord Blood Cure Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Dr. Shahin Jamal
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November 10 2015 10:42 PM ET — via RheumReports 
Despite advances in the collection and storage of umbilical cord blood, the science proving its utility in the medical treatment of common diseases seems to have lagged behind. If you go to any obstetrical waiting room or clinic, you will find multiple pamphlets enticing anxious parents-to-be to fork out significant cash to this end. On average, to collect and store umbilical cord blood for 16 years costs around $2000 CAD. For those who can afford this, it serves as an insurance policy against potential rare diseases and malignancies and future opportunities lost.
Over the past few years, I have had more and more of my pregnant CTD patients ask for my opinion on the utility of umbilical cord blood for rheumatic diseases. These moms-to-be are worried about development of CTD in their children and the potential missed opportunity for treatment if they don’t collect cord blood now when they have the chance.
This morning at ACR, I came across a very interesting poster evaluating the use of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ucMSC) for treatment of collagen induced arthritis (CIA), compared to two kinds of biologics (anti-TNF, anti-CD20). Researchers from China induced CIA in DBA/1 mice with immunization of type II collagen. Twenty-eight days later, they compared the effects of injection of ucMSC, anti-TNF antibody, and anti-CD20 antibody with each other and two control groups. Results showed significant reduction of arthritis severity and pathology in the ucMSC group, which was comparable to the anti-TNF and anti-CD20 groups. Furthermore, ucMSC actually changed the immune response, suppressing Th17 T-cells and enhancing regulatory T-cells compared to the control groups.
Although these data are very preliminary, I think that they are compelling. Umbilical-derived MSCs seem to show promise for the future, particularly if they can shift the immune response. I wonder if, given early, they could facilitate a “cure” for inflammatory arthritis. Much more work is needed in humans and we have more questions than answers at this time. For now, I tend to advise patients that I think there may be a potential utility in umbilical cord blood in the future, whether from private collection or the public cord blood bank.
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About the Author
Dr. Shahin Jamal
Dr. Jamal is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia and an active staff physician at Vancouver Coastal Health. Her interests include diagnosis and prognosis of early inflammatory arthritis, and timely assessment and access to care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
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