KGMU DOCTORS GIVE ‘MORE LIFE’ TO PLATELETS

Attempts to extend shelf life of platelets from five to seven days successful

In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, experts at the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) have taken the platelet transfusion technology to a level where it can save more lives. After successful research, doctors here have managed to extend the shelf life of platelets from five to seven days. This could help eliminate shortage of this key component required by lakhs during platelet transfusion every year.

LUCKNOW: In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, experts at the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) have taken the platelet transfusion technology to a level where it can save more lives.

After successful research, doctors here have managed to extend the shelf life of platelets from five to seven days. This could help eliminate shortage of this key component required by lakhs during platelet transfusion every year.

Platelets, one of the key blood components (along with red and white blood cells and plazma), typically survive for five days outside the human body. Since testing each sample for HIV and other infection takes one day, the effective shelf life is four days.

This is one big reason why there’s a perpetual shortfall of platelets, especially during monsoon and pre-winter season when diseases such as dengue and malaria spread (reducing platelet count in the body).

In some parts of the world like Europe, doctors use platelet additive solution to increase the shelf life, but this is neither approved nor used in India.

“However, KGMU experts made an indigenous attempt to check if shelf life of platelets can be increased keeping their function intact. And our test was successful,” said Prof Tulika Chandra, HoD transfusion, medicine department.

Dr Chandra’s team mixed platelets with the components used in the additive solution and kept them under observation for their function. “At the end of the seventh day, we found that the samples had maintained the quality they had on the fifth day,” she said.

The next test was to see if bacterial growth was under control on the seventh day. And this time too, the results were encouraging.

“Typically, we keep platelets between 22 and 24 degrees Celsius. But for extending their life, we kept them at 18 degrees Celsius. No bacterial growth was found, indicating that this unit could be used on patients till the seventh day,” she added.

A further reduction of temperature to 16 degrees, however, damaged the properties of the platelets.

But the end result was that if platelets were kept at 18 degrees -- after mixing them with the components of additive solution -- they may survive more.

Prof Chandra has sent her results to the FDA for approval. Once approved, the technology could then be applied for platelet transfusion.