Preservation of Hemostatic and Structural Properties of Rehydrated Lyophilized Platelets: Potential for Long-Term Storage of Dried Platelets for Transfusion

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 92; no. 2; pp. 397 - 401
• Main Authors: Read, Marjorie S., Reddick, Robert L., Bode, Arthur P., Bellinger, Dwight A., Nichols, Timothy C., Taylor, Kathryn, Smith, Scott V., McMahon, Debra K., Giggs, Thomas R., Brinkhous, Kenneth M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 17-01-1995; National Acad Sciences; National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; Bleeding Time; Blood; Blood plasma; Blood Platelets - physiology; Blood Platelets - ultrastructure; Blood Preservation - methods; Blood transfusion; Canines; Dogs; Ear - injuries; Freeze Drying; Hemostasis; Hemostatics; Humans; Medical research; Platelet Membrane Glycoproteins - analysis; Platelet Transfusion; Platelets; Preservation; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Thrombocytopenia - therapy; Thrombosis; Tissue Fixation; von Willebrand Diseases - therapy; Wounds and Injuries - therapy
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.92.2.397

Currently, therapeutic platelet concentrates can be stored for only 5 days. We have developed a procedure that permits long-term storage of fixed and lyophilized platelets that retain hemostatic properties after rehydration. These rehydrated lyophilized platelets (RL platelets) restore hemostasis in thrombocytopenic rats and become incorporated in the hemostatic plug of bleeding time wounds of normal dogs as well as von Willebrand disease dogs with partially replenished plasma von Willebrand factor. Ultrastructurally, these platelets are well preserved and are comparable to control normal washed platelets. Flow cytometry analysis shows that RL platelets react with antibodies to the major surface receptors, glycoprotein (GP)Ib and GPIIb/IIIa. These receptors are involved in platelet agglutination, aggregation, and adhesion. In vitro functional tests document the ability of RL platelets to adhere to denuded subendothelium and to spread on a foreign surface. Circulating RL platelets participated in carotid arterial thrombus formation induced in normal canine subjects. The participation of RL platelets in these vital hemostatic properties suggests that with further development they could become a stable platelet product for transfusion.