Quantitative evaluation of plasma after methylene blue and white light treatment in four Chinese blood centers.
BACKGROUND
Pathogen reduction technology is an important process in the blood safety system, including solvent/detergent treatment, filtration and methylene blue-photochemical technology (MB-PCT). To investigate the quality of MB-PCT-treated plasma, plasma samples from four Chinese blood centers were analyzed over 12 months of storage to determine the recovery of activities and levels of various plasma proteins.


METHODS
Ten plasma units each from the Suzhou, Yancheng, Chongqing and Shandong blood centers were divided into two aliquots. One was subjected to treatment with one of two methylene blue-photochemical technology instruments and the other was used as control. The treated and untreated sample pairs were stored at -30°C. The recovery rates of coagulation factors, inhibitor proteins, total protein, immunoglobulins, and complement proteins were measured at different time points after storage.


RESULTS
The mean recovery of most proteins exceeded 80% after MB treatment. The exceptions were factor XI and fibrinogen, of which only 71.3-74% and 69.0-92.3% were retained during storage. The two equipment types differed in terms of residual MB concentration in the plasma samples (0.18 μM and 0.29 μM, respectively). They had similar protein recovery rates at 0.5 month but differed at later time points. The four blood centers differed significantly with regard to factor II, V, VIII and fibrinogen activities. Only the samples from the Shandong blood center met the methylene blue treated fresh frozen plasma requirement. The major factor that influenced the quality of the MB-FFP samples was the time taken between blood collection and storage.


CONCLUSIONS
Methylene blue treated plasma showed reduced coagulation factor (CF) activity and protein levels. The MB treatment-induced damage to the proteins was acceptable at the four Chinese blood centers, but the quality of the MB-treated plasma in general was not satisfactory. The main factor affecting plasma quality may be the duration of the collection and processing.
Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, China.
Yang
Y
Chunhui
Bian
B
Guohui
Yang
Y
Hong
Xiao
X
Xiaopu
Bai
B
Zherong
Wang
W
Mingyuan
Zhang
Z
Xinsheng
Wang
W
Juanjuan
Li
L
Changqing
Li
L
Wuping
D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008751:Methylene Blue / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010949:Plasma / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects*; D064826:Transfusion Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards
D001798:Blood Proteins; D008751:Methylene Blue
Methylene blue; Pathogen reduction; Plasma; Protein quality