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Compounds biologically similar to platelet activating factor are present in stored blood components
C C Silliman1, C A Johnson, K L Clay
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver.
Abstract:
Agents which prime the neutrophil NADPH oxidase develop during routine storage of whole blood and packed red blood cells. This plasma priming activity can be inhibited by bepafant (WEB 2170), a specific platelet activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonist. Quantitation of the priming agent(s), by a commercially available radioimmunoassay for PAF, reproducibly demonstrated high levels of PAF activity. However, analysis of these plasma samples from stored blood components by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy did not reveal any 1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine. We conclude that the polyclonal antibody to PAF used in these studies may have recognized different epitopes of a family of heterogeneous, biologically active lipids that manifest their effects through the PAF receptor.