Kinetics and fate of (111)Indium-oxine labelled blood platelets in asplenic subjects.

The survival, tissue distribution and fate of (111)Indium-oxine labelled autologous platelets was studied in four asplenic subjects with serial blood sampling, scintillation camera and computer-assisted imaging. Mean (111)In-platelet recovery in the circulation was 89 /+- 13% (/+- 1 SD). Platelet survival curves fitted a linear function best and was 238 /+0 41 h. The shape of the survival curves of normal and asplenic subjects differed: in the asplenic subjects the curve was linear whereas that of normal subjects was significantly more curvilinear if analyzed by least squares computer fitting to a gamma function. Early hepatic (111)In-activity was significant and transient and ascribed to the "collection injury". As labelled platelets disappeared from the circulation, (111)In-activity in the liver increased progressively and linearly to reach 42.5 /+- 14.1% of whole body activity at 240 h. Radioactivity also accumulated in the bone marrow, but could not be demonstrated in the vasculature of the lower limbs. These results would indicate that in asplenic subjects the majority sites of destruction of senescent platelets are the liver and bone marrow.