Platelet-Rich Plasma Treatment for Chronic Respiratory Disease

This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy in chronic respiratory disease patients will cause lung regeneration, thereby slowing the progression of the disease. We performed a search to obtain pertinent articles on the following electronic databases: Google Scholar, PubMed, NCBI, Medscape, and clinicaltrials.gov. Keywords used during in search included "Platelet Rich Plasma" AND "Chronic Respiratory Disease" AND/OR "Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease". A total of 15 articles were chosen for this paper, published from 2011 to 2021, and included case series, lab studies, animal studies, cohort studies, and clinical trials. All statistical data were considered significant if the p-value was less than 5%, or 0.05. Our findings confirmed that PRP therapy successfully caused anti-inflammatory effects and acceleration of tissue regeneration, resulting in improved lung function. This, in turn, slowed the progression of the disease and led to an improved quality of life. Not all chronic respiratory disease patients present in the same manner, but the connecting link is the damaged tissue of the lungs, causing issues with the functionality of the lungs. By adjunctively treating patients with PRP, the high concentration of platelets and their secreted growth factors can help induce an acceleration of healing and regeneration of pulmonary tissue. This, in turn, can slow the progression of the disease, which could lower the overall mortality rate in chronic respiratory disease patients. More studies should be conducted on this topic, specifically large, double-blinded, randomized human trials with controls, to further assess the efficacy and beneficial effects of PRP treatment on the lungs.