The National Swedish Cord Blood Bank (NS-CBB) is altruistic and publicly funded. Herein we describe the status of the bank and the impact of delayed versus early clamping on cell number and volume. Cord Blood Units (CBUs) were collected at two University Hospitals in Sweden. Collected volume and nucleated cell content (TNC) were investigated in 146 consecutive Cord Blood (CB) collections sampled during the first quarter of 2012 and in 162 consecutive CB collections done in the first quarter of 2013, before and after clamping practices were changed from immediate to late (60 s) clamping. NS-CBB now holds close to 5000 units whereof 30 % are from non-Caucasian or mixed origins. Delayed clamping had no major effect on collection efficiency. The volume collected was slightly reduced (mean difference, 8.1 ml; 95 % CI, 1.3-15.0 ml; p = 0.02), while cell recovery was not (p = 0.1). The proportion of CBUs that met initial total TNC banking criteria was 60 % using a TNC threshold of 12.5 × 10(8), and 47 % using a threshold of 15 × 10(8) for the early clamping group and 52 and 37 % in the late clamping group. Following implementation of delayed clamping practices at NS-CBB; close to 40 % of the collections in the late clamping group still met the high TNC banking threshold and were eligible for banking, implicating that that cord blood banking is feasible with delayed clamping practices.

We show that simultaneous detection of the CD34, SP, and ALDH+ cells is clearly feasible using only small amounts of CB. In CB, ALDH+, and CD34+ cells are overlapping populations distinctly separated from the SP population. The difference in relation to the capacity for colony growth between ALDH+ and SP underlines that they define different cell populations.

The ALDH assay excludes nonviable and apoptotic cells, and therefore correlates better with CFU enumeration compared to the number of viable CD34+ cells. We propose that the ALDH assay might replace the CFU-GM method in CBU potency measurements.

Early detection of individuals with hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is important to manage iron levels and prevent future organ damage. Although the HFE mutations that cause most cases of HH have been identified, their geographic distribution is highly variable, and their contribution to iron overload is not fully understood. All new registered blood donors at the Sahlgrenska University hospital between 1998 and 2015 were included in the study. Donors with signs of iron overload at baseline and subsequent follow-up testing were recommended genotyping of the HFE gene. Of the 50,493 donors that were included in the study, 950 (1.9%) had signs of iron overload on both test occasions. Of the 840 donors with iron overload that performed HFE genotyping, 117 were homozygous for C282Y, and 97 were compound heterozygotes. The prevalence of C282Y homozygosity was 0.23%. Iron overload screening effectively detects individuals at risk of carrying the C282Y mutation of the HFE gene and enables early treatment to prevent HH complications.