The basic requirements to be an HSC donor are similar to those of blood donors. They include the following requirements listed in Table 3.
Table 3. Donor Requirements.| Parameter | Requirement |
| Age | 18–60 years |
| HIV Status | Persons infected with HIV are excluded |
| Allergies | Life-threatening allergies (i.e., latex allergy) may exclude donors |
| Arthritis | Rheumatoid and advanced arthritis excludes donors |
| Asthma | Asthma requiring steroid use will exclude donors |
| Autoimmune disease | Autoimmune disorders (e.g., SLE, severe psoriasis, fibromyalgia) excludes donors |
| Bleeding disorders | Factor V Leiden and Von Willebrand disease excludes donors |
| Brain injury/ Brain surgery | Donors with a history of brain injury and multiple concussions are excluded |
| Cancer | Donors with a history of any blood cancer are excluded |
| Heart disease/ Stroke | Donors who have recovered from a heart attack or stroke are excluded |
| Hepatitis | Donors who have been infected or are carriers of Hepatitis B or C are excluded |
| Kidney disease | Donors with glomerulonephritis and other severe kidney disorders are excluded |
| Liver disease | Donors with severe liver disease, such as Wilson's disease, are excluded |
| Chronic Lyme disease | Donors with chronic Lyme disease are excluded |
| Weight | Donors with a BMI greater than 40 are usually excluded |
Donor testing
In addition to the questions about the donor’s medical history and ethnicity, donors are tested for HLA tissue type by collecting cheek cells with a cotton swab. The HLA antigens tested using molecular diagnostics are HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, DRBI, and DQ. Since a donor has two sets of each antigen, both sets must be identical to the patient for a perfect match. For example, if a donor is HLA A 33, 34, HLA B 58, 44, and HLA C 07, 05, the patient must match all 6 alleles for a match. Due to their lower level of immunogenicity, cord blood cells often do not require a perfect match (for example, 9 of 10 may be acceptable).
If a donor’s preliminary testing matches a prospective recipient, the donor is retested to verify the HLA typing and detect potential infectious diseases that may cause complications for the patient. Recent studies have shown that unrelated HLA-matched donors have the same long-term outcome as HLA-matched siblings.
