Viral inactivation of human bone tissue using supercritical fluid extraction.

A new bone tissue process using supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction (SFE) has been evaluated for its ability to inactivate or eliminate viruses. Four viruses, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), Sindbis virus, polio Sabin type I virus, and pseudorabies virus (PRV), were exposed to four different processing steps. In addition to supercritical CO2, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, and ethanol treatments were evaluated. The mean cumulated reduction factors (log10) for the four viruses exposed to these four steps were > 14.2 for HIV-1, > 18.2 for Sindbis virus, > 24.4 for poliovirus, and > 17.6 for PRV. The mean reduction factors obtained by the supercritical fluid extraction alone were > 4.0, > 4.3, > 6.6, and > 4.0, respectively. These results demonstrate that the SFE process is effective in inactivating viruses on human femoral heads, and provides a level of inactivation similar to that obtained by traditional cleaning methods. It is proposed that CO2 SFE be incorporated as a routine step in the processing of bone allografts for transplantation either to replace or supplement existing procedures.