Comparison of three commercially available buffy coat pooling sets for the preparation of platelet concentrates

Background: A disposable set for platelet concentrate (PC) preparation by the buffy coat method allows pooling of buffy coats, centrifugation and cell separation with in-line leucocyte filtration. This study compares three commercially available pooling sets in combination with INTERCEPT pathogen inactivation (PI). Materials and methods: Sets for pooling of buffy coats were from Fresenius Kabi (FRE), Macopharma (MAC) and Terumo BCT (TER). Platelet yield, recovery and concentration were compared before and after PI (n = 20). Platelet quality was assessed by annexin V binding, P-selectin expression and PAC1 binding. Results: The TER pooling set had the highest platelet yield (539 044 x 10(11)) compared with MAC (453 +/- 077) and FRE (456 +/- 051) prior to PI. This was the result of a significantly higher platelet concentration in the TER storage bag (141 +/- 012 x 10(6)/L) compared with MAC (118 +/- 019) and FRE (128 +/- 015). However, the TER platelet content decreased by 156% after PI, yielding 455 +/- 047 x 10(11) platelets compared with smaller reductions at 95% for MAC (410 +/- 069) and 44% for FRE (436 +/- 052). None of the individual PC contained >10(6) leucocytes. The pH in TER PC was lower compared with MAC and FRE caused by a higher lactic acid production rate. Consequently, PAC1 binding after TRAP activation was lowest for TER PC on day 6. P-selectin and annexin V were not different between suppliers. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the added value of evaluating the entire component production process when introducing a new consumable. This study helped to inform a decision on what pooling set is ideally suited for routine implementation taking into account PI.