Short lived stem cells after COVID-19 and its vaccine

This article is about a study that shows that blood stem cells are decreased in the umbilical blood cord of babies whose mothers recovered from COVID-19 but more so in those who received COVID-19 vaccinations.

The paper was published in iScience on November 10, 2022. The investigators are from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Definitions for background

Hematopoietic stem progenitor cells (HSPCs) are stem cells that can become either red or white blood cells. They are used for treatment purposes.

The Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) supplies nutrients to the fetus from the placenta and is rich in HSPCs. The presence of CD34+ molecules identifies HSPCs. In this article, HSPCs, CD34+ cells, and blood stem cells are the same and used interchangeably.

Umbilical cord blood, typically discarded after delivery, is collected when the baby is born. UCB differs from adult blood because it contains more monocytes and younger red blood cells.

Study groups

The experiment collected 111 umbilical cord blood samples upon delivery from babies born between March 18th and December 15th, 2021. The mothers were divided into three groups.

A. The negative group (number = 39) has no medical history of COVID-19 infection nor vaccination and no detectable anti-spike or nucleocapsid antibodies (IgGs) (N-/S-) in the UCB plasma.

B. The Non-vaccinated, asymptomatically infected group (n = 40) had no medical history of symptomatic COVID-19 and vaccination, but they are positive for antibodies against either only spike protein, aka anti-spike (n = 21, N-/S+) or both nucleocapsid, aka anti-nucleocapsid and anti-spike proteins (n = 19, N+/S+).

The lifespan of the anti-spike antibodies is longer than the anti-nucleocapsid antibodies. Therefore, those with no anti-nucleocapsid antibodies (N-/S+) have recovered from COVID-19 infections longer than those with anti-nucleocapsid antibodies (N+/S+). This is relevant to the results, as will be seen later.

C. The vaccinated group (n = 32) is the same as the second group but has a medical record for COVID vaccination (n = 21, N-/S+ and n = 11, N+/S+),

Results

The number of blood stem cells (HSPCs) is lower in the previously infected COVID-19 group. But much lower in the COVID-vaccinated group.

However, those who were vaccinated and had a relatively recent infection (N+/S+) from their second injection had lower numbers of blood stem cells than those who had their COVID jab somewhat later than their COVID-19 (N-/S+).

The figures immediately below show that the CD34+ is lower in the Vaccinated groups but most lacking in the Vaccinated N+/S+ group.

Source: Estep, B et al. Skewed fate and hematopoiesis of CD34+ HSPCs in umbilical cord blood amid the COVID-19 pandemic

The decrease is attributed to apoptosis. Apoptosis naturally occurs in cells due to normal changes. In this study, apoptosis of the HSPCs was increased among the vaccinated.

Lower Stem Cells in those who had Second Vaccination Earlier in the pregnancy

Another significant finding is that the farther the second vaccination from the delivery, the lower the stem cells (CD34+).

More so, the decrease in the blood stem cells from COVID vaccination persisted without recovery throughout the pregnancy. Below is a quote with emphasis added.

Both parameters (% frequencies and numbers of CD34+ cells) were inversely correlated with the term following the vaccination, though there was no significance difference by the positivity for IgGs against SARS-CoV-2 S and N proteins, indicating that these impacts on CD34+ cells were largely caused by the vaccination, in which the trends continued without recovering to baseline over the entire gestation period.

The Figures below show that the lowest blood stem cells (CD34+) can be found in those who had their second COVID shots earlier in their pregnancy.

Changes in the Interferon-Gamma Signalling pathways

In finding out why the HSPCs decreased, they found changes in 541 genes related to the interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) mediated signaling pathways were responsible.

Citing Caiado et al. and Gogoleva et al., the authors said that IFN-γ could stop the growth of CD34+ cells and shorten the life of stem cells.

Taken together, these data suggest that the IFN-γ-related signaling pathways promoted by SARS-CoV-2 infection could be involved in the induction of apoptosis observed in CD34+ HSPCs and thus might affect the fate and survivability of CD34+ HSPC populations in the Umbilical Cord Blood.

Conclusion and Concerns

Considering all the results, COVID-19 and its vaccination negatively affected the ability of the babies’ bodies to make blood cells, the quality of the stem cells, and their lifespan.

The authors expressed their concern that the decrease in stem cell production may affect the supply of therapeutic stem cells and result in “unpredictable” blood conditions for those receiving stem cell therapies.

In addition, the CD34+ cells, which would be residual cells following apoptosis, showed skewed hematopoiesis profiles, indicating that previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, and likely vaccination based on the observed trends, interferes not only with the fate of CD34+ cells but also the hematopoietic abilities, phenotype, and survivability of populations thereof, which could result in a shortage of available CD34+ HSPCs from cord blood banking, processing for use toward HSPC-based therapies, as well as unpredictable hematological issues in HSPC recipients.

My concern is what happens to the babies’ stem cells after birth. Should the stem cells of the vaccinated mothers and their babies be monitored?

In their discussion, the authors cited two studies showing that the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins negatively affect blood stem cells. The first was published before the COVID shots were approved. (links on the titles)

I wonder if the Food and Drug Administration read those papers before they “emergency-authorized” and recommended the COVID injections.

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References:

Estep, B et al. Skewed fate and hematopoiesis of CD34+ HSPCs in umbilical cord blood amid the COVID-19 pandemic. iScience. VOLUME 25, ISSUE 12, 105544, DECEMBER 22, 2022
Tutukina M, Kaznadzey A, Kireeva M, Mazo I. IgG Antibodies Develop to Spike but Not to the Nucleocapsid Viral Protein in Many Asymptomatic and Light COVID-19 Cases. Viruses. 2021 Sep 28;13(10):1945. doi: 10.3390/v13101945. PMID: 34696374; PMCID: PMC8539461.

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