Comparative Study of Four Platelet-Rich Plasma Methods for Preparing Platelet Concentrates

Background: Platelet preparations have been used for a wide variety of clinical applications such as hemorrhage, tissue engineering and cellular therapy. Platelet concentrates can be prepared by the apheresis method or from the whole blood using the Buffy-coat or Platelet-rich plasma methods. The purpose of this study was to compare four variations of platelet-rich plasma method based on double centrifugation protocol to identify the optimal centrifugation conditions with greatest platelet recovery and highest enrichment capacity for preparing platelet concentrates. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were obtained from 145 donors, chosen randomly from the donation department at the Tehran Blood Transfusion Center, Tehran, Iran. Four variations of platelet-rich plasma methods were selected for preparation of platelet concentrates. Platelet counting analysis was performed on samples and platelet enrichment and platelet recovery were calculated by investigating the correlation between the number of platelets in the whole blood, platelet-rich plasma and platelet concentrates. Results: Platelet count analysis revealed that the method performed with 2100 ×g for 2.30 min in the first centrifugation step and 4150 ×g for 6 min in the second centrifugation step had the highest platelet enrichment (5.59fold) and greatest platelet recovery (78.63%). Conclusion: Within the limits of this study, it can be concluded that 2100 ×g for 2.30 min in the first centrifugation step and 4150 ×g for 6 min in the second centrifugation step yielded the greatest platelet recovery and highest enrichment capacity and is a good choice for preparing platelet concentrates. Keywords: Platelet, concentrates, plasma, centrifugation, recovery, enrichment.