Development of natural fiber-supported high-strength autologous fibrin glue from human plasma

Abstract

Commercially available fibrin glue is expensive and contains fibrin and thrombin from different sources. This limits the use of this glue for bonding regular wounds, increases the cost for cardiovascular surgeries and aggravates the risk of inflammatory and immune systemic allergic reactions. This study aims to develop a stronger and affordable fibrin glue synthesized from the patient’s own plasma within a few minutes. Fibrin glue was synthesized by combining calcium chloride with human plasma and a gel-like adhesive was prepared for direct application. Different properties and morphological features of the autologous glue along with the fiber-supported one were evaluated for different concentrations (5, 10 and 20% w/v) of calcium chloride. 10% calcium chloride was found as the optimum with clotting time varying from 8 to 25 min for frozen plasma and 3 min for freshly prepared plasma. The average adhesion strength was 46.2, 55.8 and 40.5 g/cm2 for 5, 10 and 20% calcium chloride, respectively. The adhesion strength increased up to 74.8 g/cm2 due to the addition of 1 mL of 0.5% cellulose that addresses the issue of weaker adhesion strength found in typical autologous glue. The average water content was the lowest for 10% calcium chloride and was reduced to 15.3% after cellulose addition. The proposed fibrin glue has high adhesion strength like the commercial ones and can be prepared in a few minutes. This affordable, enhanced fibrin glue has the potential to be used in a wide range of applications without the risk of possible inflammatory and allergic reactions.