New Approach to Eliminate HLA Class I Antigens from Platelet Surface without Cell Damage: Acid Treatment at pH 3.0

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Abstract
A new method was studied for eliminating HLA class I antigens from the surface of platelets without damaging the cells. Platelets were exposed to an acid solution (pH 3.0) to eliminate the antigenicity of HLA class I antigens. The reduction in antigenicities of HLA class I common antigen and individual HLA class I antigens by acid treatment was marked. Patients' sera which contained multispecific HLA antibodies reacted with PBS‐treated platelets, but not with acid‐treated platelets. No changes were observed in the antigenicities of glycoprotein Ib or glycoprotein IIb/IIIa. The viability of acid‐treated platelets was 83%. Ultrastructural investigations revealed no significant difference between the PBS‐treated platelets and acid‐treated platelets. The platelet function studies showed that the aggregation of acid‐treated platelets induced by various agonists was only slightly reduced compared with PBS‐treated platelets. We propose that acid‐treated platelets are promising for clinical use in patients refractory to platelet transfusions and may be superior to chloroquine‐treated platelets for analysis of the specificity of antiplatelet antibodies.