Long-Term Home Storage of Autologous Serum Eye Drops.

INTRODUCTION: Autologous serum eye drops (ASEDs) are used to treat patients with dry eye syndrome. ASED is manufactured by fractionation of autologous whole blood of concerned patients and usually stored under home freezing conditions. METHODS: We analyzed sterility, particle number, protein concentration, and stability of 14 growth factors in ASED for 148 days at -10°C. RESULTS: Total protein concentration was constant showing no significant degradation as assessed by 1D-SDS-PAGE. Slightly increased concentrations of angiopoietin-2, vascular endothelial growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, and hepatocyte growth factor were observed, while stem cell factor concentration showed only a modest decrease. CONCLUSION: Our data support the feasibility to store ASED for patient use under usual home freezing conditions for up to 148 days.