[Potential and usefulness of the analysis of metallic elements in blood platelets]

Platelets represent an important fraction of blood, whose composition and interactions in many physiological and pathological processes were a subject of several studies. Determination of trace elements in this component was investigated in past studies (70-80's) on small samples and by analytical techniques giving rise to not always reliable results. This study was aimed at the development of a simple method for platelet isolation and determination of trace elements by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The method was applied on blood samples from 35 healthy males with mean age of 42.5 years. The obtained results gave us the opportunity to establish a reference range of trace elements in this matrix that can be used for the interpretation of results in occupationally/environmentally exposed people or hill subjects.