Production of Modified Autologous Conditioned Serum and Ex Vivo Assessment of Its Healing Potential in Murine Corneal Epithelium

Human blood-derived topical therapies have been a boon to clinicians in recent decades. Autologous serum (AS) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are enriched in epitheliotropic growth factors that are essential in corneal wound healing. Unlike AS, PRP is based on a differential centrifugation system, yielding more platelet-derived growth factors. Autologous conditioned serum (ACS) not only preserves the preparation of AS and PRP, but also focuses on immune-modulating properties, which are important in inflammatory diseases.

The lack of standardized protocols and high preparation costs are limitations for the clinical application of ACS. This video experiment demonstrates a standard operating procedure for preparing modified autologous conditioned serum (mACS) eye drops. First, glycerol was added into heparin syringes as the blood cell stabilizer during hypoxic incubation. To activate the blood cells, a 4 h incubation at 37 °C was initiated. Then, the blood samples were centrifuged at 3,500 × g for 10 min at room temperature. After filtration of the supernatant through a 0.22 µm filter, the mACS eye drops were fully prepared.

A tentative try-out of the therapeutic effect of mACS showed that it may have competitive advantages over conventional AS in the corneal wound healing in ex vivo mouse eyes. The AS used in this study was prepared according to published studies and the clinical practice in our hospital. Therefore, the efficacy of mACS on ocular surface diseases could be evaluated in future research through in vivo animal studies and clinical trials.