Patent ID: 6960428

Claim:
A method for preparing a blood product concentrate for storage, comprising: (1) suspending said blood product concentrate in a support solution, to obtain a suspension of said blood product concentrate; and (2) irradiating said suspended blood product concentrate, to effect sterilization and inactivation of leukocytes, to obtain a irradiated, suspended blood product concentrate, wherein: said blood product concentrate is a platelet concentrate; and said support solution consists essentially of: (1) a compound selected from the group consisting of L-carnitine, alkanoyl L-carnitines, pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, and mixtures thereof; (2) water; (3) a buffer; and (4) a carbohydrate, and wherein said compound is present in said support solution in an amount effective to maintain the membrane of or platelets present in said irradiated, suspended blood product concentrate.