Evaluation of a commercial closed system for autologous platelet-rich plasma production in dog

Background Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a product derived from whole blood (WB), characterized by platelet concentrations above baseline in a small volume of plasma. As a result it contains increased concentrations of platelet-derived growth factors. Objective To determine platelets, erythrocytes, and leukocytes count and platelet-derived growth factor-BB concentration in the final product of a commercial platelet-rich plasma closed system using canine blood. Methods Twenty milliliters of blood was obtained from cephalic vein of 10 healthy blood donors dogs after owner informed consent and processed with a completely closed commercial system CPUNT 20 (Eltek group, Casale Monferrato, Alessandria, Italy) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Complete blood counts were performed to determine erythrocyte, leukocyte, and platelet numbers in both whole blood and resultant PRP. The PDGF isoform BB concentration was determined after bovine thrombin activation of PRP samples with a human ELISA kit (Human PDGF-BB Duoset DY220E, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA) previously used in others canine and feline studies. The normality of data was tested with D’Agostino-Pearson test. Comparison between WB and PRP parameters was calculated using a paired T-test with significance established at p < 0.05. Results This commercial system produced on average 2.73 ± 0.9 ml of PRP containing significant higher concentration of platelets (417 ± 228 x 103/μl, P= 0.003), and lower concentration of erythrocytes (608 ± 217 x 103/μl, P < 0.0001) and leukocytes (7081 ± 3033 /μl, P=0.0003) compared with WB. PRP shows an average of 3442 ± 2061 pg/ml of PDGF-BB after thrombin activation.