Effect of Various Platelet Preparations on Retinal Muller Cells

PURPOSE. Peeling of the internal limiting membrane is the treatment of choice for macular holes. Fresh platelet suspension (PS) is used to support wound healing in persistent macular holes. The concentration of growth factors in fresh, frozen, and thrombin-activated PSs were compared, to optimize their trophic potential and examine their capacity to support proliferation, migration, and contraction of human retinal Muller cells. METHODS. The concentration of various growth factors in frozen PS, thrombin-activated PS, and plasma were evaluated by ELISA. The effect of these preparations on proliferation, migration, and contraction of human Muller cells were evaluated with an ATP-assay, a colony-dispersion assay, and a detached collagen gel contraction assay respectively. Plasma was tested as a control. RESULTS. Frozen and thrombin-activated PSs contained significantly more EGF, TGF-beta 1, and PDGF than did plasma. The highest concentrations of EGF and FGF were found in frozen PS. All platelet preparations and plasma supported cell growth significantly better than the control, which was serum-free culture medium. Muller cells migrated better when incubated with thrombin-activated PS than with any other test solution. Contraction was extremely strong after incubation with fresh PS compared with plasma or thrombin-activated or frozen PSs. CONCLUSIONS. Frozen and thrombin-activated PSs may be suitable alternatives to fresh PS for persisting macular holes, due to their superior effect on Muller cell migration. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2009; 50:4881-4886) DOI: 10.1167/iovs.08-3057