title: Selecting the optimal dose of low-molecular-weight hydroxyethyl starch (Pentastarch) for granulocyte collection.
abstract: A new, rapidly excreted, low-molecular-weight form of hydroxyethyl starch (Pentastarch), is effective and safe in centrifugation leukapheresis. To define the optimal dose of Pentastarch, 12 subjects donated granulocytes by continuous-flow, centrifugation leukapheresis on three occasions at 3-week intervals. Each subject received approximately 250,500, or 1000 ml of Pentastarch according to a random sequence during procedures in which 81 of donor blood was consistently processed. Plasma Pentastarch concentrations (mean mg/ml) measured immediately after leukapheresis were 3.1, 6.7, and 12.7 for the 250, 500-, and 1000-ml doses, respectively. Total leukocyte and neutrophil yields with the 500- or the 1000-ml doses of Pentastarch were similar, and both were significantly greater (p less than 0.05) than those with the 250-ml dose. Neutrophil yields per concentrate (mean X 10(-10) were 0.74, 1.72, and 1.73 for the 250-, 500-, and 1000-ml doses, respectively. Pentastarch dose had little effect on lymphocyte and platelet yields. No serious adverse effects were evident for any dose of Pentastarch during 12 weeks of observation. In particular, the 1000-ml dose did not produce increased toxicity. Thus, a single 500-ml bottle of 10 percent Pentastarch produced maximal yields; efficacy was not improved by doubling the dose.
mesh_terms: D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D006895:Hydroxyethyl Starch Derivatives / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007937:Leukapheresis; D013213:Starch / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*
chemical_list: D006895:Hydroxyethyl Starch Derivatives; D013213:Starch