Single-step production of autologous bovine platelet concentrate for clinical applications in cattle

Platelet concentrate (PC) is an alternative therapy to treat mastitis in dairy cattle and is an alternative treatment for reproduction problems such as endometritis. Unfortunately, double-centrifugation processing methods described are time-consuming, require specialized laboratory equipment, and are usually done in a heterologous way, which risks herd health. To overcome this limitation, we evaluated single-step bovine PC processing methods readily applicable to a farm setting using an autologous conditioned plasma (ACP) production system. We investigated the hematologic findings, cytokines, and growth factors of the obtained PC samples. Autologous conditioned plasma was prepared using whole blood (WB) from 4 cows (group 1) using single-step centrifugation and 16 different processing methods. The 2 protocols that yielded the highest ratio of platelet to white blood cell (WBC) concentration were ACP-1 [720 × g (2,200 rpm), 5 min] and ACP-2 [929 × g (2,500 rpm), 3 min]. They were subsequently reproduced and compared using WB from 8 cows (group 2). Hematologic findings were quantified, IL-1β (cytokine) and growth factors [platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, bovine fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF)] were measured, and enrichment factors were compared between samples and processing methods. Hematological characteristics and platelet enrichment varied markedly among tested protocols and all were statistically different from WB. Protocol ACP-2 resulted in significantly greater platelet enrichment (mean 169% of WB) than ACP-1 (125% of WB). We found no significant difference between the 2 ACP preparation protocols with regard to leukocyte reduction (7.53-9.75% WBC compared with WB) or growth factor enrichment (124-125% PDGF, 95-100% TGF-β, 102-104% b-FGF, and 56-74% IL-1β compared with WB). In conclusion, both ACP protocols yielded a platelet concentration shown to promote healing for clinical applications in cattle, and the ACP-2 protocol resulted in a greater degree of platelet enrichment. Therefore, this protocol could be used for ACP production for clinical applications in cattle.