Gender and age differences in growth factor concentrations from platelet-rich plasma in adults

• Published in: Military medicine 2014-07, Vol.179 (7), p.799-805
• Main Authors: Evanson, J Richard, Guyton, M Kelly, Oliver, David L, Hire, Justin M, Topolski, Richard L, Zumbrun, Steven D, McPherson, James C, Bojescul, John A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Age Distribution; Age Factors; Blood & organ donations; Blood platelets; Blood Platelets - metabolism; Epidermal growth factor; Female; Gender; Humans; Injuries; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - metabolism; Kurtosis; Male; Males; Middle Aged; Military Personnel - statistics & numerical data; Morbidity - trends; Orthopedics; Plasma; Platelet-Rich Plasma - chemistry; Sex Distribution; Sex Factors; Skewness; United States - epidemiology; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Wounds and Injuries - blood; Wounds and Injuries - epidemiology; Wounds and Injuries - therapy; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0026-4075; 1930-613X
• DOI: 10.7205/milmed-d-13-00336

The use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to facilitate healing of orthopedic-related injuries has gained popularity; however, the clinical benefits are not consistent. Differences may result from variations in growth factor (GF) levels in normal populations. The purpose of this study was to determine if GF levels present in activated PRP preparations differed by gender and age (≤ 25 versus >25 years) in a healthy population (N = 102). All GFs analyzed (epidermal growth factor [EGF], hepatocyte growth factor [HGF], insulin growth factor-1 [IGF-1], platelet-derived growth factor-AB [PDGF-AB], platelet-derived growth factor-BB [PDGF-BB], transforming growth factor beta-1 [TGFβ-1], and vascular endothelial growth factor) had higher levels for females and for those ≤ 25 years old. Of the GFs tested, four of seven were significantly higher (p < 0.05) for females (EGF, HGF, IGF-1, PDGF-BB), the most significant being IGF-1 (female, 85.0; male, 69.3 ng/mL; p < 0.01). Five of seven GFs achieved significance (p < 0.05) for people ≤ 25 years old (EGF, IGF-1, PDGP-AB, PDGF-BB, and TGFβ-1), with IGF and PDGF-AB achieving p < 0.001 (≤ 25 years, 85.1; >25 years, 56.8, and ≤ 25 years, 7.66; >25 years, 5.77 ng/mL, respectively). Finally, for both genders, most of the GFs were positively correlated with all GFs. This study demonstrated that both age and gender account for variations in specific GFs present in PRP, and this may partially explain some of the inconsistent results of PRP clinical trials.