Vitamin B2 and Innovations in Improving Blood Safety

Abstract

Although transfusion of blood components is becoming increasingly safe, the risk of trans- mission of known and unknown pathogens persists. The application of vitamin B2 (ribo-flavin) and UV light to pathogen inactivation has several appealing factors. Riboflavin is a naturally occurring vitamin with a well-known and well-characterized safety profile. This photochemical-based method is effective against clinically relevant pathogens and inactivates leukocytes without significantly compromising the content and the efficacy of whole blood or blood component. This chapter gives an overview of the innovative technology for pathogen inactivation, the Mirasol ® pathogen reduction technology (PRT) System, based on riboflavin and UV light, summarizing the mechanism of action, toxicol - ogy profile, pathogen reduction performance and clinical efficacy of the process.