The effects of pneumatic tube transport on fresh and stored platelets in additive solution

Limited scientific work has been conducted on potential in vitro effects of transport on pneumatic tube systems on blood components, in particular platelets.

To evaluate the possible effects of the Swisslog TranspoNet system on the cellular, metabolic, phenotypic and secreting properties of fresh and stored platelets, we set up a four-arm paired study comparing transported and non-transported platelets. Platelets were aliquoted, prepared with the OrbiSac system and suspended in 70% SSP+ (n=8). All in vitro parameters were monitored over a 7-day storage period.

Throughout storage, no differences were observed in glucose consumption, lactate production, pH, pCO2, ATP, hypotonic shock response reactivity, CD62P, PAC-1, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 or CD42b. The release of sCD40L increased (p<0.01) in all units but without any significant differences between groups.

The storage stability of all platelets conveyed by the Swisslog TranspoNet system was not impaired throughout 7 days of storage. The Swisslog TranspoNet system does not, therefore, seem to be a risk for increased metabolic activity, activation or release reactions from the platelets. This lack of effect of the pneumatic tube transport system did not seem to be affected by the age of the platelets or repeated transport.