CYTOKINES IN PLATELET CONCENTRATES - A COMPARISON OF APHERESIS PLATELET (HEMONETICS) AND FILTERED AND UNFILTERED POOLED BUFFY-COAT DERIVED PLATELET CONCENTRATES

Variable degrees of platelet activation, shape changes, microvesiculat ion and fragmentation may occur during collection, processing and stor age of platelet concentrates (PCs), contributing to different rate of platelet storage lesion. Leukocytes contribute to both the frequency o f transfusion reactions and the acceleration of the rate of platelet s torage lesion hence leukocyte removal of platelet concentrates has bee n introduced to overcome these problems. However transfusion reaction can still occur with the use of leuko-reduced products and it is not f ully elucidated that the rate of storage lesion is equivalent for filt ered and unfiltered counter parts. This issue has been addressed in th is manuscript comparing the generation of cytokines during storage in PCs derived from pooled buffy coat with the standard apheresis product s, with a similar level of leukocyte contamination. The EDTA-induced s hape change in platelet was used as an index of platelet functional in tegrity. In addition IL-8 and TGF beta were used as indicators of filt ration process-inducing stimulation of cytokines. Our results clearly indicate that a rapid disc/spheric conversion occurs during storage of buffy-coat derived PC, and while prestorage filtration reduces both I L-8 content immediately after filtration and at the end of platelet sh elf life but such a process may lead to a slight enhancement of the ra te of TGF beta generation indicating that any additional process may h ave some bearing in stimulation of TGF beta release. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.