Enhanced retention of in vitro functional activity of platelets from recombinant human thrombopoietin‐treated patients following long‐term cryopreservation with a platelet‐preserving solution (ThromboSol) and 2% DMSO

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Abstract
Chemotherapy‐induced thrombocytopenia represents a significant clinical problem in the management of patients with malignancy. Recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) is a potent stimulator of platelet production in vivo. The ability to cryopreserve rhTPO‐derived platelets would enable the use of autologous platelets during the period of thrombocytopenia. ThromboSolTM is a platelet‐stabilizing formulation consisting of second messenger effectors that inhibit specific activation pathways endogenous to platelets. To investigate the effect of ThromboSol cryopreservation, platelets from rhTPO‐treated patients (n = 23) and normal donors were treated with ThromboSol and 2% DMSO and cryopreserved for up to 6 months. The platelets were thawed at different intervals and tested for retention of platelet functional activity in vitro. Following a short‐term storage (1 week), the cryopreserved platelets from patients treated with rhTPO exhibited significantly higher retention of functional activities including discoid morphology (70% v 57%), extent of shape change (19% v 13%) stirring shape change (15% v 11%) and hypotonic shock response (56% v 25%), as compared to the cryopreserved platelets from controls. Furthermore, there was no further significant loss of functional activity following cryopreservation for up to 6 months. These findings suggest that cryopreservation of platelets from rhTPO‐treated donors may provide a useful novel strategy for autologous or allogeneic donation for subsequent transfusions to manage treatment‐related thrombocytopenia.