Collection of the umbilical cord, amniotic fluid, amniotic membrane, and placenta, which are defined as medical waste after birth, for clinically use and production of fetal stem cells

Stem cell technology offers innovative treatment methodologies for many diseases that arise as a result of cell death or functional loss and do not yet have a determined treatment. This thesis aims to demonstrate that postnatal medical wastes including umbilical cord, amniotic fluid, amniotic membrane, and placenta, can be used as a strategic value and can be used in the production of fetal stem cells. For this purpose, the collection of materials, transfer, compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) laboratory standards, and determination of optimal material were evaluated. In addition, a cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted, and difficulties encountered in the processes were identified. In this study, a total of 160 samples collected from five different perinatal extraembryonic tissue samples including amniotic fluid, amniotic membrane, umbilical cord, whole placenta and placenta piece, defined as medical waste after vaginal and cesarean birth from 32 healthy and volunteer pregnant women. The materials were transported to the ESTEM Stem Cell Laboratory in sterile containers and solutions and samples were taken for bacterial contamination analysis. Mesenchymal stem cell isolation was performed, and characterization analyses were carried out. Erythrocytes were lysed and removed from erythrocyte-contaminated samples. As a result; it was found that all the materials taken with vaginal birth were not suitable for GMP laboratories due to bacterial contamination. Excluding vaginal births, mesenchymal stem cells derived from amniotic fluid were determined as the most suitable product for fetal stem cell production and banks due to ease of procurement, transportation, storage, and isolation, limited blood contamination, no significant risk of bacterial contamination, no need for enzymatic processing, and cost-effectiveness. Key words: Fetal Stem Cell, Good Manufacturing Practices, Perinatal Tissue, Medical Waste, Amniotic Fluid