Inactivation of viruses in platelet and plasma products using a riboflavin‐and‐UV–based photochemical treatment

Abstract

The results observed in this study suggest that treating PLT and plasma products with a riboflavin-and-UV-light-based pathogen reduction process could potentially eliminate window period transmission of screened viruses and greatly reduce the risk of transfusion transmission of unscreened viruses.

Riboflavin and UV light treatment of platelets: a protective effect of platelet additive solution?

“…Both for bacteria 35 and for viruses, 36 no meaningful difference could be shown, so there is no significant bias in pathogen reduction performance induced by the storage medium of the PLTs.…”

Ultraviolet C light efficiently inactivates nonenveloped hepatitis A virus and feline calicivirus in platelet concentrates

“…HAV and FCV have physicochemical properties that are similar to those of HEV; that is, they are small, single‐stranded RNA viruses with similar virion densities and no lipid envelope. Reports that both HAV and HEV have lipid‐enveloped forms attest to further similarities between these nonenveloped viruses . The fact that HAV and FCV in PCs showed sensitivity to UVC suggests that the THERAFLEX UV‐Platelets method may also be effective against HEV and thus able to reduce the risk of HEV transmission via platelet transfusion.…”

“…The INTERCEPT technology is a photochemical procedure that uses amotosalen HCl, which penetrates cellular and nuclear membranes, binds to the double‐stranded regions of DNA and RNA, and cross‐links nucleic acids upon illumination with low‐energy UVA light, whereas the MIRASOL system is a photodynamic procedure employing riboflavin (vitamin B2), which associates with nucleic acids and mediates oxygen‐independent electron transfer when exposed to broad‐spectrum UV light . The fact that both technologies use photoactive compounds that must enter the virus particle to reach the nucleic acids may explain their variable inactivation efficacy against nonenveloped viruses (Table ) , . In contrast to enveloped viruses, some nonenveloped viruses—particularly picornaviruses such as HAV, poliovirus, and encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV)—have tightly packed protein capsids that provide stability but may thwart the penetration of small‐molecular substances such as inactivation agents .…”

The long and winding road to pathogen reduction of platelets, red blood cells and whole blood

“…The efficacy of pathogen reduction of the different PRTs, usually expressed as the logarithm of the ratio of the number of infectious agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites) detected in the platelets before and after treatment (log 10 reduction), was determined in a number of studies carried out with platelet units spiked with the different pathogens (Ruane et al , ; Castro et al , ; Grellier et al , ; Mohr et al , ; Irsch & Lin, ; Seghatchian & Tolksdorf ; Keil et al , ; Keil et al, ,b; Gravemann et al , ). Levels of PRT efficacy from 4 to >6 log 10 reductions were documented for most pathogens tested, with inactivations frequently exceeding the lower limit of detection for the specific assays.…”