Stem cell transplantation (SCT) has become the therapy of choice for many h
ematologic and immunologic disorders. At present, only 25% of patients have
suitable HLA-identical donors. In an attempt to increase the donor pool fo
r SCT in Thailand and Southeast Asia, we developed a program whereby parent
s and mismatched siblings can be used as donors. In this preliminary study,
after granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was given to adult don
ors, peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) were collected and CD34(+) cells pu
rified using a CliniMACS immunomagnetic device (Miltenyi Biotec, Germany).
in seven experiments, purified CD34(+) cells could be obtained from G-CSF-s
timulated PBSC in large numbers (1.71 +/- 0.19 x 10(8)), with high purity (
93 +/- 2.4%) and excellent recovery (64.28% - 85.62%). Immune reactive T an
d NK cells were adequately depleted to less than 0.2%. The purification pro
cedure can be completed within 3 hours. In conclusion, a clinical stem cell
purification program using this novel device is now established in Thailan
d and for the first time in Southeast Asia. This should allow further devel
opment of advanced SCT therapy including haploidentical and mismatched CD34
+ SCT for patients' lacking HLA-identical donors in this region.