Plasma Fractions
Blood plasma, the liquid component of whole blood, is made up primarily of water and contains small quantities of minerals, salts, ions, nutrients and proteins.
There is a large variety of proteins in plasma and many of these, such as albumin, immunoglobulins and clotting factors have important therapeutic properties.
Plasma fractionation process developed by Edwin J. Cohn exploits differences in solubility of proteins at different pH, temperature and ethanol concentration to precipitate out desired proteins under different set of conditions. However, modern plasma fractionation processes are increasingly employing other purification techniques such as diafiltration, ultrafiltration and chromatography to achieve higher purity and product activity.
Flowcharts: You can go to the product page by clicking on the product name shown in the flowchart
Plasma Component | Therapeutic Use |
| Albumin | Shock, Perioperative Fluid Restoration, Organ Transplantation or Resection and Cardiopulmonary Bypass, Burns and Thermal Injuries, Nutrition, Wound Healing, Pulmonary Insufficiency, Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn, Liver Failure, Plasmapheresis, Nephrotic Syndrome, Cerebral Ischemia |
| Immunoglobulin | Passive prophylaxis, some types of immune thrombocytopenic purpura, Inflammatory myositis, Systemic lupus erythematosus, Antiphospholipid Syndrome, Vasculitis, Rheumatoid arthritis and Juvenile chronic arthritis |
| Factor VII | Hemophilia patients (with Factor VIII or IX deficiency) |
| Factor VIII | Hemophilia A |
| Factor IX complex | Hemophilia B, anticoagulant overdose, factor II and factor X deficiencies, liver disease |
| Factor XIII | Hemarthrosis |
| Antithrombin III | Congenital deficiency disseminated intravascular coagulation |
| Alpha-I-antitrypsin | Hereditary deficiencies emphysema and COPD cirrhosis |