White blood cells

[alex948]

Could some one help me with this ?

What are the usages of white blood cells?

Who purchase white blood cells from the blood banks?

At what price generally blood banks sell white blood cells?

Thanks

[Cliff]

Hi Alex,

I suspect you are asking for a particular reason, perhaps related to a family member who may need this type of therapy?

Anyhow, please read all replies with caution as any posts here should not be used in place of sound medical advice.

White blood cells are used in a few different ways, they can be used as what is know as a stem cell transplant, but I think you may be asking for another use, which is to help fight infection.

White blood cells are not a FDA licensed product, and are not "sold". When white cells are used to treat infection, it's often a last effort to help an immunocompromised patient. These patients would likely be at a university hospital, or other large institution that has a collection facility.

Prices for all blood products differ. One important concept to remember is that there is no charge for any blood product, blood is donated for free and there is no charge for the blood itself. The charges related to blood products are for testing, storage, transport, and other processing fees. Some of them are quite high, and depend on the facility. It could be as low as several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.

Please provide more specific information and we'll try to provide additional help.

[alex948]

Thanks for your response.

I am currently doing a project work on blood and blood components. I got a good clarity on other blood products (platelets, plasma, RBC) and their usage…etc. I am not able to find any information about white blood cells and its usage in the hospital or research.

Regards

[shelleyk482]

Try using the term "granulocyte" instead of white blood cells when doing your research.

[Lcsmrz]

In most cases, WBCs are considered "contaminants" in donated products. We blood bankers consider them the source of many evil things and jump through alot of hoops trying to get rid of them before transfusion.

There are two WBC products of noted worth. One is Granulocytes, which is collected by apheresis and infused into a patient with sepsis, etc. It's use is controversial, and it costs about the same as other apheresis products.

A second product is Source Leukocytes, which is the buffy coat from a unit. These are extracted at the blood center during component processing and sold to firms, who use them to make interfereon, etc. Europeans used to be big into Source Leukocytes, and you don't get alot of money for them.

[heathervaught]

Some researchers also use Source Leukocytes when studying immunology or cancer. The researchers are pretty tight-lipped when it comes to sharing the specifics of their research, so that is all of the information I could gather from our research customers.

[alex948]

Thank you very much for your replies and those are very helpful