The role of platelet products in the treatment of microbial infections

Today, the issue of microbial resistance is considered as one of the most important challenges in the field of public health and the use of new biocompatible, safe and effective antimicrobial compounds is very important to solve this problem. Therefore, according to the antimicrobial properties of platelets, treatments based on platelet products can be used as complementary approaches along with antibiotics to treat microbial infections. In this review article, the properties and mechanism of the antimicrobial effect of platelets and platelet products along with some of the available evidence in this field have been briefly described.

The search process was done in Google scholar and PubMed databases using keywords “Platelets”, “Platelet-rich plasma” and “Anti-Infective Agents” without time restrictions. 107 relevant articles were selected and their findings regarding the properties and mechanism of the antimicrobial effect of platelets and platelet products were used.

Antimicrobial activities of platelet products are due to the presence of a large number of platelets and various types of bioactive molecules, high amounts of platelet microbicidal proteins, and using multiple mechanisms. On the other hand, biocompatibility, safety, high clinical efficacy and limited side effects are some of the advantages of using platelet products. However, standardization and optimization of their preparation protocols are also important challenges.

The use of platelet products together with antibiotics is a suitable option to treat various microbial infections.