Comparison of Factor 8 (VIII) and fibrinogen Viability in Whole Blood and Fresh Frozen Plasma

Background and aim: Blood transfusion plays a critical role in modern medicine, ensuring the availability of safe and viable blood products for patients in need. In a special medical condition like coagulopathies, a fresh whole blood or stored FFP are often required. However, questions arise regarding the availability of required blood constituents and their integrity. This underscores the need to evaluate the viability of blood products before transfusion, with a focus on comparing  the viability of factor VIII and fibrinogen in both whole blood and FFP.  Methodology: Using an experimental study design, 32 male and female subjects with blood groups A, B, AB, and O in equal proportion were recruited. Following a baseline assessment for the blood under study, blood pints were collected using standard method of phlebotomy. Some pints were fractionated into whole blood and FFP,  stored at 4±2⁰C and -60⁰C respectively. Manual  Prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and enzymatic assays for fibrinogen (FIB) and factor VIII (FVIII) were employed, and result obtained statistically analyzed using ANOVA and significance level set at P < 0.05. Results: At 4±2°C in WB aPTT increased to 17.02s and 41.25s on day 14 and to 24.31s and 46.63 on day 21. FIB was table in WB at day 14 (p=659) but dropped to 11 3.63mg/dl day 35 (p=0.00), and was stable in FFP up to day 180 (p=1.00).  FVIII at 2-6⁰C declined to 0.778% on day 14 and to 0.477% by day 35 in WB but stable at -60⁰C day 180 (p=0.58). Conclusion: Lower temperatures, especially freezing at -60°C, helped maintain the stability of coagulation factors. Prolonged storage of whole blood led to significant alterations in FVIII and FIB. Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) should therefore be considered as the preferred option for haemostatic transfusion therapy due to its stability in maintaining intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation factors.