The Porcine Abattoir Blood Model – Bridging the Gap Between Human and Porcine Blood for In-Vitro Testing

The Porcine Abattoir Blood Model – Bridging the Gap Between Human and Porcine Blood for In-Vitro Testing | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Porcine Abattoir Blood Model – Bridging the Gap Between Human and Porcine Blood for In-Vitro Testing Maike Schönborn, Ilona Mager, Ulrich Steinseifer, Michael Neidlin, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6609363/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 27 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Acta Biomaterialia → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: Reliable in-vitro thrombogenicity testing of medical devices requires large blood volumes, which cannot be obtained from humans. Slaughterhouse blood is an ethically acceptable, cost-effective alternative. While porcine blood is already used in hemolysis testing, its use for thrombogenicity testing remains limited regarding its comparability to human blood. Objectives: This study systematically characterizes porcine slaughterhouse in comparison to human blood regarding key parameters relevant for thrombogenicity testing. The goal is to evaluate its suitability for standardized in-vitro tests. Methods: Human donor and porcine slaughterhouse blood were analyzed for key thrombogenicity parameters. These included coagulation and fibrinolysis markers (ROTEM parameters, TAT, fibrinogen), platelet and complement activation (PLAs, P-selectin, C3a, SC5b9), and stress-related hormones (adrenaline, cortisol). The influence of two different anticoagulants (enoxaparin and citrate) was also assessed. Results: Despite moderate pre-activation in pig blood - especially for platelets, complement and stress markers - intact reaction patterns were observed. Examplarily, ROTEM analysis revealed species-specific characteristics such as reduced clotting time (CT) and increased clot strength (A30) in pigs, while overall reactivity was preserved. In addition, porcine platelets maintained their responsiveness to agonists, suggesting that further activation is possible despite the increased baseline. Importantly, the effect of anticoagulants (citrate vs. enoxaparin) was the same in both species, suggesting that the methodological scope used in in-vitro assays is transferable. Conclusions: These results emphasise that, when properly collected and handled, slaughterhouse porcine blood can be a viable and reliable alternative to human blood for thrombogenicity testing, although certain baseline differences must be taken into account. Biotechnology and Bioengineering in-vitro testing animal blood thrombogenicity coagulation Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 27 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Acta Biomaterialia → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6609363","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":453097879,"identity":"ee252128-259b-4d4a-850e-87f17049b005","order_by":0,"name":"Maike Schönborn","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Cardiovascular Engineering Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maike","middleName":"","lastName":"Schönborn","suffix":""},{"id":453097880,"identity":"e3c3624b-9416-402b-95a8-09a077af60a6","order_by":1,"name":"Ilona Mager","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"aDepartment of Cardiovascular Engineering Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ilona","middleName":"","lastName":"Mager","suffix":""},{"id":453097881,"identity":"cedd8897-5f0e-4b6c-ad6f-27f48f2d2335","order_by":2,"name":"Ulrich Steinseifer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"aDepartment of Cardiovascular Engineering Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ulrich","middleName":"","lastName":"Steinseifer","suffix":""},{"id":453097882,"identity":"e9711a71-a47c-466c-bb20-d79bfd28c898","order_by":3,"name":"Michael Neidlin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"aDepartment of Cardiovascular Engineering Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michael","middleName":"","lastName":"Neidlin","suffix":""},{"id":453097883,"identity":"4b7d57ca-d800-4082-bb3d-bfb9b3af1aa6","order_by":4,"name":"Johanna C. 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Slaughterhouse blood is an ethically acceptable, cost-effective alternative. While porcine blood is already used in hemolysis testing, its use for thrombogenicity testing remains limited regarding its comparability to human blood.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjectives:\u003c/strong\u003e This study systematically characterizes porcine slaughterhouse in comparison to human blood regarding key parameters relevant for thrombogenicity testing. The goal is to evaluate its suitability for standardized in-vitro tests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMethods: Human donor and porcine slaughterhouse blood were analyzed for key thrombogenicity parameters. These included coagulation and fibrinolysis markers (ROTEM parameters, TAT, fibrinogen), platelet and complement activation (PLAs, P-selectin, C3a, SC5b9), and stress-related hormones (adrenaline, cortisol). 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