Hepatitis E virus is effectively inactivated in platelet concentrates by ultraviolet C light.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: As previous investigations have shown, THERAFLEX UV-Platelets, a UVC-based pathogen inactivation (PI) system, is effective against non-enveloped transfusion-relevant viruses such as hepatitis A virus (HAV), which are insensitive to most PI treatments for blood products. This study investigated the PI efficacy of THERAFLEX UV-Platelets against HEV in platelet concentrates (PCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Buffy coat-derived PCs in additive solution were spiked with cell culture-derived HEV and treated with the THERAFLEX UV-Platelets system using various doses of UVC (0·05, 0·10, 0·15 and 0·20 (standard) J/cm2 ). Titres of infectious virus in pre- and post-treatment samples were determined using a large-volume plating assay to improve the detection limit of the virus assay. RESULTS: THERAFLEX UV-Platelets dose-dependently inactivated HEV in PCs. The standard UVC dose inactivated the virus to below the limit of detection, corresponding to a mean log reduction of greater than 3·5. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that the THERAFLEX UV-Platelets system effectively inactivates HEV in PCs.