Contributions to the optimal use of human blood. V. A method to increase the yield of anti-D immunoglobulin by processing Cohn's fraction III

Our plain-English summary of Contributions to the optimal use of human blood. V. A method to increase the yield of anti-D immunoglobulin by processing Cohn's fraction III, by E.F. Vogelaar, M.A. Boer-v d Berg, E. Reijnierse, et al (Vox Sanguinis, 1974).

The study

• Authors: E.F. Vogelaar, M.A. Boer-v d Berg, E. Reijnierse, H.G. Brummelhuis, H.W. Krijnen
• Journal: Vox Sanguinis
• Published: 1974;27(3):207-13
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This study, from the Central Laboratory of the Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service in Amsterdam, is about processing blood plasma, not about asbestos disease. Asbestos appears only as filter material: the authors used Seitz asbestos filters to remove particles from their product and to make it sterile. No people were studied for asbestos exposure or health effects. The authors developed a two-step ethanol method to recover anti-D immunoglobulin, an antibody product, from Cohn's fraction III. Fraction III is a portion of plasma where much anti-D activity was normally lost. Three production-scale batches were processed. On average, 18% of the anti-D activity in the original plasma was recovered this way, raising the total yield from an average of 44% to an average of 62%. The anti-D content of the new concentrate was 2-3 times higher than in the laboratory's normal concentrate. No thrombin was found, and the concentrate tested negative for hepatitis B antigen. After 8 months at 4°C, anti-D activity in the final preparation of one batch was 75% of its fresh level. The authors considered the method very useful for recovering more anti-D activity.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory and production-scale development of a plasma fractionation method (not an asbestos health study)
• Who was studied: No human subjects. Three production-scale batches of frozen Cohn fraction III paste (15 kg, 13 kg and 76 kg), Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Amsterdam; the paste had been stored 1-4 years at -30°C
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure was studied. Asbestos filters (Seitz, types K-5, 0, K5 and EKS) were used as processing equipment to filter the product
• Main results:
  • Total anti-D yield across the three batches rose from an average of 44% to an average of 62%, with an average of 18% of the original plasma's anti-D activity recovered from fraction III
  • Average IgG yield increased by 12% (data not shown in the article)
  • Anti-D content in the fraction II' filtrate was 2-3 times higher than in the laboratory's normal anti-D immunoglobulin concentrates
  • No thrombin was found in the fraction II' filtrate or the final preparation
  • The fraction II' filtrate tested negative for hepatitis B antigen (HBAg); its hepatitis B antibody (HBAb) content was higher than in normal immunoglobulin concentrates
  • After 8 months of storage at 4°C, anti-D activity in the final preparation of batch M-3 was 75% of that in the fresh solution
• The authors' conclusion: The authors considered the method very useful for recovering more anti-D activity than is normally obtainable
• Limitations the authors state:
  • An extra centrifugation step was needed before the product could be filtered
  • Further gains in yield would require better separation of the antibodies from unstable proteins, such as alpha-1-lipoprotein, which caused filtration problems, and fibrinogen, which caused turbidity during storage

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