Growth factor levels in the platelet-rich plasma produced by 2 different methods: curasan-type PRP kit versus PCCS PRP system.

PURPOSE: Potential treatments using autologous thrombocyte growth factors are an important reason to improve methods for isolating platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Two methods for extracting PRP directly by the surgeon are currently available; this study was conducted to compare the growth factor levels in the resulting PRP.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Whole blood was drawn from 46 healthy donors (17 men, 29 women) aged 20 to 59 years (29.9 +/- 7.8). PRP was then separated from each sample by both the PCCS (3i) and Curasan (PRP Kit, Curasan) methods.

RESULTS: The growth factor content differed significantly for TGF-beta1 (PCCS 467.1 ng/mL; Curasan 79.7 ng/mL) (sign test P < .0001) and PDGF-AB (PCCS 251.8 ng/mL; Curasan 314.1 ng/mL) (P < .0001); this was less significant for IGF-I (PCCS 91.0 ng//mL; Curasan 69.5 ng/mL) (P < .02). The higher platelet count in the PCCS PRP (PCCS 2,232,500/microL; Curasan 1,140,500/microL) seemed to correlate with a higher level of TGF-beta1 (Spearman's correlation coefficient, r(s) = 0.7), whereas the higher leukocyte count in the Curasan PRP (PCCS 15,300/microL; Curasan 33,150/pL) had only a minor correlation with higher levels of PDGF-AB (r(s) = 0.46).

DISCUSSION: The PCCS end product has both a higher platelet count and a higher total content of the growth factors investigated. Nevertheless, the biologic effect of the evaluated growth factor levels remains unknown. The amount of PRP necessary to achieve the intended biologic effects still remains unclear.

CONCLUSION: PRP contains growth factors in high concentrations. Precise predictions of growth factor levels based on the thrombocyte counts of whole blood or PRP appeared limited. There are different sources for growth factors (platelets, leukocytes, plasma).