New Protocol for Microbiological Analysis and Bacterial Decontamination of Human Fetal Tissue used for Transplantation for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Abstract

Transplantation of fetal neural tissue has become a promising treatment and disease management for individuals experiencing various neurodegenerative diseases. Contamination of human fetal tissue by bacteria presents a potential risk of causing infections in the recipient patient’s brain. Therefore, an efficient and applicable microbial decontamination method needs to be development and required prior to the approval of neurorestorative cell therapy as an effective treatment. A protocol that consisted of subsequent washing steps at various stage of the tissue processing was performed on rate embryonic tissue incubated with high concentrations of microbes, including fungal and bacterial species, to assess the effectiveness of the experimental microbial decontamination. The spectrum of microbial contamination and effect of washing steps on aborted human fetal tissue were analyzed. Of the samples taken during the human fetal tissue processing, 47.7% tested positive for microbial contamination, but subsequently after the washing steps the samples exhibited no growth of bacteria. The data suggests that human fetal tissue for neural repair can transfer microbes of different species to the receiving patient, suggesting the need for decontamination procedures. This report details the importance of decontamination of human fetal tissue in neural repair to reduce transmission of microbes to the brain of the recipient. Thus, highlighting the need for such decontamination processes to further the practice of using human fetal tissue for neurorestorative cell therapy.