Routine Screening Method for Microparticles in Platelet Transfusions

Abstract

Platelet inventory management based on screening microparticle content in platelet concentrates is a new quality improvement initiative for hospital blood banks. Cells fragment off microparticles (MP) when they are stressed. Blood and blood components may contain cellular fragments from a variety of cells, most notably from activated platelets. When performing their roles as innate immune cells and major players in coagulation and hemostasis, platelets change shape and generate microparticles. With dynamic light scattering (DLS)-based microparticle detection, it is possible to differentiate activated (high microparticle) from non-activated (low microparticle) platelets in transfusions, and optimize the use of this scarce blood product. Previous research suggests that providing non-activated platelets for prophylactic use in hematology-oncology patients could reduce their risk of becoming refractory and improve patient care. The goal of this screening method is to routinely differentiate activated from non-activated platelets. The method described here outlines the steps to be performed for routine platelet inventory management in a hospital blood bank: obtaining a sample from a platelet transfusion, loading the sample into the capillary for DLS measurement, performing the DLS test to identify microparticles, and using the reported microparticle content to identify activated platelets.

Comparison of the platelet activation status of single‐donor platelets obtained with two different cell separator technologies

“…Additional benefits of using ThromboLUX to determine the activation status of single-donor platelets are the speed, ease, and non-invasiveness of the method and its independence of calibration beads used in other methodologies (because dynamic light scattering is an absolute sizing method). 16,18,37 This allows its use as a routine screening method before transfusion.…”

“…The MP% is measured as the contribution of microparticles (particles with radii between 50 and 550 nm) to the total dynamic light scattering intensity of the sample. 16,37 Platelet units were identified as activated if their MP% exceeded a threshold of 15% (for plasma-stored platelets) or 10% (for PAS-stored platelets), 37 or if they had been assigned a data code greater than zero, which indicated abnormal data, often caused by the presence of aggregates. A MP% equal to or below these thresholds and with a data code of zero marked the platelets as non-activated.…”

“…12 The ThromboLUX system, which uses dynamic light scattering to measure the size of particles in a suspension, allows rapid and non-invasive screening of platelet products by quantifying the relative proportion of microparticles in the sample. 16,18,[36][37][38] In the current study, we measured the microparticle content (MP%) using ThromboLUX to assess the impact of various factors on the activation status of single-donor platelets used in US hospitals. The factors we assessed were the apheresis platform, the storage medium, the use of pathogen reduction, the time in storage after production, and the testing location.…”

Platelet‐derived extracellular vesicles convey mitochondrial DAMPs in platelet concentrates and their levels are associated with adverse reactions

“…Immediately after the identification of adverse reactions, the incriminated platelet concentrate bags were shipped back to blood establishment for immediate processing. The platelet concentrate bag tubing (controls and adverse reactions) was then stripped and sufficient volume samples were recovered for the analyses . To generate supernatants for the EV analysis, platelet concentrate samples were centrifuged at 402 × g, during 10 minutes at 22°C.…”

Nanostructured platelet-rich plasma: state of art in dental treatments

“…It is essential emphasizing that nanotechnology is an important topic in dentistry [1,2]. The description of nanostructures based on dynamic light scattering has shown the contributions from exosome-nanoparticles (diameter smaller than 50 nm), nanoparticles (diameter ranging from 50 to 550 nm), platelet/nano-aggregates (diameter bigger than 550 nm) [3][4][5][6][7]. Special considerations were dedicated to nanometric PRP-exosomes [8,9].…”