Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to perform validation of the thawing process for solvent/detergent-treated plasma octaplasLG® using different thawing devices. Optimized settings for temperature and thawing time should be defined based on the results of both temperature measurements and extensive biochemical characterization studies. METHODS: octaplasLG units were thawed using water bath systems (i.e. MB-13A, QuickThaw® DH4), dry tempering systems (i.e. plasmatherm, SAHARA-III), and microwave oven (i.e. transfusio-therm® 2000). Optimized thawing conditions were defined. Subsequently, using the selected thawing conditions, octaplasLG units were thawed and tested on product release parameters. RESULTS: The fastest thawing was observed for the microwave oven. All octaplasLG units thawed by different devices and optimized thawing conditions were clear and free of solid and gelatinous particles, indicating no protein denaturation or overheating. In addition, no significant differences were found in the coagulation and inhibition activity and hemostatic potency of octaplasLG when thawed by the different devices tested. All parameters after thawing were within the product release specification levels. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that octaplasLG can be thawed using all above listed devices without any negative influence on the plasma quality, presupposed that optimized settings defined for this plasma product are used.