Agitation-dependent biomechanical forces modulate GPVI receptor expression and platelet adhesion capacity during storage.

Background: Continuous agitation during storage slows down the platelet storage lesions. However, in special circumstances, manual-mixing can be alternatively used to store products for short time periods without compromising platelet quality. Based on this finding, and given the role of shear stress in modulating receptor expression, we were interested in comparing the levels of platelet adhesion receptor, GPVI and platelet adhesion capacity under each storage condition.

ROS scavenger, N-acetyl-l-cysteine and NOX specific inhibitor, VAS2870 reduce platelets apoptosis while enhancing their viability during storage.

Background: Platelet storage is often complicated by deleterious changes that are started by reversible activation of the cells and can lead to procoagulant function and apoptosis during longer periods of storage. Given that increasing levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation are associated with platelet activation and apoptosis, our study investigated whether ROS scavenging or the inhibition of ROS production can enhance the viability of stored platelets.

Methods: For this study platelet-rich plasma platelet concentrates (PRP-PCs) were either treated with ROS-reducing agents (1 mM N-acetyl- -cysteine [NAC] or 30 μM NADPH oxidase [NOX] inhibitor, VAS2870) or kept untreated during storage.