Time and Temperature Stability of TGF-β1, EGF and IGF-1 in 20% and 100% Human Serum (Folia biologica, 2022, K. Jirsova et al)

Autologous Serum 101 - how does it work? Growth factors are a key part.

The concentration and stability of various growth factors in ASEDs is determinative for their efficiency.

So they studied the temperatures required to maintain this concentration and stability. The temperatures they studied were 4-8, -20, -80 and -156 °C.

This is a rather timely topic given Dry Eye Foundation’s ongoing concerns about illegally marketed (and commercially manufactured) biologic eye drops Regener-Eyes and StimulEyes. Historically, these eye drops have been marketed for their proteins - cytokines, chemokines and growth factors. But these eye drops are stored at room temperature.

If biologics can remain effective when stored at room temperature, why aren’t autologous serum eye drops stored at room temp too? And why didn’t these study authors at least add a room temperature option to their study for comparison?

Simple - there was no point. No one in the scientific world imagines that autologous serum will be effective if it is not kept frozen or refrigerated.

So our question for the provider community is this:

Unfortunately, what many physicians seem to be forgetting is that proteins are the biologic components from which we expect therapeutic benefit, and those proteins require very specific cold storage in order to stay intact.

You can’t just bottle up biologic materials, set them on the shelf, sell them for inordinate amounts of money and expect them to help people (other than through placebo effect).

See Dr. Brown’s presentations on Sludge for more information.