Background
As a method with insignificant adverse effects on in vitro quality of platelet concentrates (PCs), gamma irradiation is applied to abrogate the risk of transfusionâassociated graftâvsâhost disease in vulnerable recipients. However, there is some evidence of lower posttransfusion responses and proteomic alterations in gammaâirradiated platelets (PLTs), which raises some questions about their quality, safety, and efficacy. Since reactive oxygen species (ROS) are considered as markers of PLT storage lesion (PSL), the study presented here investigated oxidant state in gammaâirradiated PCs.
Study Design and Methods
PLTârich plasma PC was split into two bags, one kept as control while other was subjected to gamma irradiation. Within 7âdays of storage, the levels of intraâPLT superoxide, H2O2, mitochondrial ROS, Pâselectin expression, and phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure were detected by flow cytometry while intracellular reduced glutathione (GSH), glucose concentration, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity were measured by enzymocolorimetric method.
Results
GSH decreased, while ROS generation and LDH activity increased, during storage. Gamma irradiation significantly attenuated GSH whereas increased ROS generation in earlier and later stages of storage associated with either Pâselectin or PS exposure increments.
Conclusion
Gamma irradiation can significantly increase cytosolic ROS generation in two distinct phases, one upon irradiation and another later in longerâstored PCs. While earlier ROS influx seems to be governed by direct effect of irradiation, the second phase of oxidant stress is presumably due to the storageâdependent PLT activation. Intriguingly, these observations were also in line with early Pâselectin increments and increased PS exposure in longerâstored PLTs. Given the mutual link between ROS generation and PLT activation, further investigation is required to explore the effect of gamma irradiation on the induction of PSL.