Acquired Zwa antigen on Zwa negative platelets demonstrated by western blotting.
Zwa-negative platelets that had been incubated in random donor AB plasma for several hours and subsequently cryopreserved, were found to be Zwa-positive when tested 3 years later by Western blotting. Following this serendipitous observation, we demonstrated that the Zwa antigen could be passively adsorbed onto the membrane of Zwa-negative platelets incubating for 4 h in the plasma from Zwa-positive donors. This observation supports the hypothesis that passive acquirement of Zwa antigens is a pathogenic mechanism for inducing post-tranfusion purpura, and suggests that Zwa-negative platelets should not be stored in Zwa-positive plasma before transfusion.
Department of Immunohematology, University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.
L A
LA
Dieleman
A
A
Brand
F H
FH
Claas
C
C
van de Keur
M
M
Witvliet
M J
MJ
Giphart
D000328:Adult; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D001782:Blood Donors; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000276:immunology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005615:Freezing; D006801:Humans; D007116:Immunization, Passive
D000941:Antigens