Hyperacute serum is a blood-derived product that has demonstrated equivalent outcomes in osteoarthritis (OA) as the well-known platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in previous research. Moreover, hyperacute serum is a stable and standardized product, which overcomes the production disadvantages of PRP. In this study we focused on characterizing and defining a final lyophilized product and to test its regenerative capacities in tissue engineering in OA, alone and in combination with hyaluronic acid (HA).
Two-dimensional (2D) cultures of primary chondrocytes were kept in culture under different supplementation conditions, including three versions of hyperacute serum (one liquid and two lyophilized). XTT analysis and gene expression quantification were performed. Hyperacute serum was tested on a human co-culture of synovium, bone, and cartilage explants, previously inflamed. Cytokine profiles from supernatants were quantified and analyzed.
Filtered lyophilized hyperactute serum did not present the same strong effect than the liquid format in promoting cell viability (P=0.0047). We hypothesize that due to the further filtration process, nutrients including growth factors were removed. Therefore, a new non-filtered lyophilized hyperacute serum was produced, which showed no significant difference in promoting cell viability when compared to the liquid format and PRP; furthermore, surpassing the supplementation gold standard FCS (P=0.03). Gene expression of OA-related genes including Col1a1, Col2a1, Acan, Sox9, Mmp3, Mmp13 and Prg4 presented high variability between patients, leading to not significant differences between the groups. However, a tendency suggesting that hyperacute serum supports more extracellular matrix protein secretion than PRP was noticed. Clusters of correlated cytokine and growth factor profiles were identified, showing that hyperacute serum controls inflammation significantly.
Non-filtered lyophilized hyperacute serum is a stable and standardized blood product with regenerative potential in the context of OA, maintaining the supplementation capacity of the liquid format and PRP.