conclusion reference ranges for umbilical cord csa have been generated. the csa of the umbilical cord and other components of it increase as a function of gestational age. these measurements correlate with fetal size. results the values of the csa of the umbilical cord, umbilical vein and wharton’s jelly (wj) increase consistently until 30 weeks of gestation, after which they reach a plateau. t...

Introduction: Recognition of human leukocyte antigens (HLA) is of importance for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Any HLA-mismatches between the donor and recipient can cause graft rejection or other complications. In HLA-typing experiments, usage of HLA-known reference cells accompany with HLA-unknown samples is obligatory. Some international centers represent these cells with high e...

Regulation of endothelial cell (EC) plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1), the primary physiological inhibitor of tissue-type plasminogen activator (TPA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (UPA), by various stimuli has been well characterized. We report the upregulation of secreted and intracellular PAI-1 in human umbilical ECs when cocultured with human smooth muscle cells (SMCs...

The scarcity of islets for transplantation calls for an alternative sources of islets. The human umbilical cord has been shown to be a reservoir of multipotent stem cells with capacity to differentiate into ectodermal, mesodermal and endodermal lineages. The present investigation deals with isolation and characterization of mesenchymal stem sells (MSC) derived from human umbilical cord and thei...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Umbilical cord haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for primary immunodeficiencies is examined with other developments in treatment. Cord blood biology is reviewed, and advantages and disadvantages of umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation for primary immunodeficiencies discussed. Clinical outcome data and future developments are reviewed. RECENT FINDINGS Cord bl...

The effects of Friend erythroleukemia cells on angiogenesis were studied in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane assay and in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In chorioallantoic membrane assay, the conditioned medium of Friend cells stimulated in vivo angiogenesis to an extent comparable to that observed with Prostaglandin El, used as positive control. Prostaglandin El added to conditio...

In the present study, the effects of cooling (to 28°C) on the vasodilatation induced by diazoxide (10(-9)-3×10(-4) M), isoproterenol (10(-9)-3×10(-4) M) and magnesium sulphate (0.1-30 mM) on serotonin-pre-contracted human umbilical artery and the role of nitric oxide in these effects were analyzed. Diazoxide, isoproterenol and magnesium produced concentration-dependent relaxation of human umbil...

Our previous studies analyzing umbilical cords show that human fetuses in Japan are exposed to multiple chemicals. Because of these findings, we believe it is necessary to establish a new strategy for examining the possible delayed long-term effects caused by prenatal exposure to multiple chemical combinations and evaluating the health risk to human fetuses. In this commentary we describe our a...

To explore the effect of fluctuating glucose on endothelial cells, human umbilical vein endothelial cells were incubated for 14 days in media containing different glucose concentrations: 5 mmol/l, 20 mmol/l, or a daily alternating 5 or 20 mmol/l glucose. Apoptosis was studied by different methods: viability assay, cell cycle analysis, DNA fragmentation, and morphological analysis. Furthermore, ...