Wing P. Chan, Meng-Yi Bai, Ching-Wei Wang, Jyun-Yi Wang and Ming-Fang Lin
Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University and School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan
Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is a second-generation platelet-containing biomaterial used in regenerative medicine. This study aimed to determine the cytokine content of PRF obtained from centrifugation of whole blood and its relationship with the three-dimensional fibrin network structure. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, histological images, and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images revealed a cytokine concentration gradient (especially for PDGF-BB and TGF-β1), which was strongly related to the three-dimensional structure of the fibrin network. Histological images of PRF sections showed the average porosity gradually increasing across PRF segments (6.5% at the red blood cell (RBC) border), reaching a maximum at the serum border (40.3%). SEM images revealed a network structure composed of fibrin fiber with a diameter of 0.11 μm at the RBC end, gradually increasing to 0.14 μm at the serum end. Compactness decreased along the longitudinal axis of the PRF gel from the RBC end to the serum end. This fibrin network structure led to trapping of cytokines; the amount of cytokine incorporated was related to fibrin compactness and pore size in various parts of the PRF gel. Knowledge of the cytokine distribution and the three-dimensional structure of PRF are critical to proper use of the PRF gel for various clinical applications.
Keywords: Biomaterials, cytokines, nanomedicine, Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF), regenerative medicine.