Esam I Azhar1,2, Salwa I Hindawi1,3, Sherif A El-Kafrawy1,2, Ahmed M Hassan1, Ahmed M Tolah1,2, Thamir A Alandijany1,2, Leena H Bajrai1,4, Ghazi A Damanhouri1,3. 1. Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 2. Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 3. Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 4. Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: During the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in plasma and platelet products from asymptomatic blood donors, raising concerns about potential risk of transfusion transmission, also in the context of the current therapeutic approach utilizing plasma from convalescent donors. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of amotosalen/UVA light treatment to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in human plasma to reduce the risk of potential transmission through blood transfusion. METHODS: Pools of three whole-blood-derived human plasma units (630-650 ml) were inoculated with a clinical SARS-CoV-2 isolate. Spiked units were treated with amotosalen/UVA light (INTERCEPT Blood System™) to inactivate SARS-CoV-2. Infectious titres and genomic viral load were assessed by plaque assay and real-time quantitative PCR. Inactivated samples were subject to three successive passages on permissive tissue culture to exclude the presence of replication-competent viral particles. RESULTS: Inactivation of infectious viral particles in spiked plasma units below the limit of detection was achieved by amotosalen/UVA light treatment with a mean log reduction of >3·32 ± 0·2. Passaging of inactivated samples on permissive tissue showed no viral replication even after 9 days of incubation and three passages, confirming complete inactivation. The treatment also inhibited NAT detection by nucleic acid modification with a mean log reduction of 2·92 ± 0·87 PFU genomic equivalents. CONCLUSION: Amotosalen/UVA light treatment of SARS-CoV-2 spiked human plasma units efficiently and completely inactivated >3·32 ± 0·2 log of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity, showing that such treatment could minimize the risk of transfusion-related SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: During the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in plasma and platelet products from asymptomatic blood donors, raising concerns about potential risk of transfusion transmission, also in the context of the current therapeutic approach utilizing plasma from convalescent donors. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of amotosalen/UVA light treatment to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in human plasma to reduce the risk of potential transmission through blood transfusion. METHODS: Pools of three whole-blood-derived human plasma units (630-650 ml) were inoculated with a clinical SARS-CoV-2 isolate. Spiked units were treated with amotosalen/UVA light (INTERCEPT Blood System™) to inactivate SARS-CoV-2. Infectious titres and genomic viral load were assessed by plaque assay and real-time quantitative PCR. Inactivated samples were subject to three successive passages on permissive tissue culture to exclude the presence of replication-competent viral particles. RESULTS: Inactivation of infectious viral particles in spiked plasma units below the limit of detection was achieved by amotosalen/UVA light treatment with a mean log reduction of >3·32 ± 0·2. Passaging of inactivated samples on permissive tissue showed no viral replication even after 9 days of incubation and three passages, confirming complete inactivation. The treatment also inhibited NAT detection by nucleic acid modification with a mean log reduction of 2·92 ± 0·87 PFU genomic equivalents. CONCLUSION:Amotosalen/UVA light treatment of SARS-CoV-2 spiked human plasma units efficiently and completely inactivated >3·32 ± 0·2 log of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity, showing that such treatment could minimize the risk of transfusion-related SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Authors: Edward L Snyder; Allison P Wheeler; Majed Refaai; Claudia S Cohn; Jessica Poisson; Magali Fontaine; Mary Sehl; Ajay K Nooka; Lynne Uhl; Philip Spinella; Maly Fenelus; Darla Liles; Thomas Coyle; Joanne Becker; Michael Jeng; Eric A Gehrie; Bryan R Spencer; Pampee Young; Andrew Johnson; Jennifer J O'Brien; Gary J Schiller; John D Roback; Elizabeth Malynn; Ronald Jackups; Scott T Avecilla; Jin-Sying Lin; Kathy Liu; Stanley Bentow; Ho-Lan Peng; Jeanne Varrone; Richard J Benjamin; Laurence M Corash Journal: Transfusion Date: 2022-06-24 Impact factor: 3.337
Authors: Maja Weisser; Nina Khanna; Anemone Hedstueck; Sarah Tschudin Sutter; Sandra Roesch; Gregor Stehle; Mihaela Sava; Nikolaus Deigendesch; Manuel Battegay; Laura Infanti; Andreas Holbro; Stefano Bassetti; Hans Pargger; Hans H Hirsch; Karoline Leuzinger; Laurent Kaiser; Diem-Lan Vu; Katharina Baur; Nadine Massaro; Michael Paul Busch; Graham Simmons; Mars Stone; Philip L Felgner; Rafael R de Assis; Saahir Khan; Cheng-Ting Tsai; Peter V Robinson; David Seftel; Johannes Irsch; Anil Bagri; Andreas S Buser; Laurence Corash Journal: Transfusion Date: 2022-09-05 Impact factor: 3.337
Authors: Ahmed M Tolah; Lamya M Altayeb; Thamir A Alandijany; Vivek Dhar Dwivedi; Sherif A El-Kafrawy; Esam I Azhar Journal: Pharmaceuticals (Basel) Date: 2021-11-24