In-Vitro Assessment of Platelets Survival in Stored Platelet Concentrates in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Introduction: Platelets are fragments of megakaryocytes circulating in the blood and its concentrates are therapeutic in substantial bleeding disorders. Efforts to ensure adequate product quality are required due to their short lifespan and lack of robustness. A descriptive longitudinal laboratory-based study was adopted in this study. The study aimed at determining platelets survival in stored platelet concentrates and evaluating thromboxane A2 for platelets function. Materials and Methods: Platelet concentrates were prepared manually using buffy coat, where about 50ml of concentrates suspended in plasma were allowed to rotate and agitate continuously on platelet agitator at room temperature (20-240C). Aliquots of 4ml each was collected serially for 9 days (day 0 to day 8) from 10 different platelet concentrates collected from 7 male blood donors and 3 female blood donors with age (mean± SD: 36 ± 7.14 years), weight (mean± SD: 66.8 ± 6.01kg), height (mean± SD: 163 ± 4.57cm). The samples were analyzed for platelets count, platelet distribution width (PDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR), using Automated Haematology analyzer (Sysmex XP-300) and thromboxane A2 using standard ELISA technique. Data analysis was carried out using mean, standard deviation as descriptive statistics and logistic regression as inferential statistics; and p <0.05 was considered as evidence of statistical significance. Results: Socio-demographic characteristics had no effect on all parameters estimated. There is variation in platelet count and platelet indices values in stored platelet concentrates compared with the baseline values and the survival of platelets in stored platelet concentrates was relatively stable till day 4 after preparation but depreciation surfaced from day 5 to day 8 compared to baseline values. The study also showed that the degree of deterioration of thromboxane A2 was highly significant at day 3 (p<0.05) while the best duration of storage for platelet concentrates in the study area is the first 3 days, though storage up to day 5 is acceptable (p>0.05). Conclusion: This study confirms thromboxane A2 as a marker for platelet functionality. The best duration of storage for platelet concentrates in the study area is the first two (2) days when no significant deterioration was observed.