No influence of collagenous proteins of Achilles tendon, skin and cartilage on the virus-inactivating efficacy of peracetic acid–ethanol

The risk of transmitting human pathogenic viruses via allogeneic musculoskeletal tissue transplants is a problem requiring effective inactivation procedures. Virus safety of bone transplants was achieved using peracetic acid (PAA)–ethanol sterilisation. Proteins are known to have an adverse effect on the virus-inactivating capacity of PAA. Therefore we investigated virus inactivation by PAA in collagenous tissues. Achilles tendon, skin and cartilage were cut into small pieces, lyophilised and contaminated with pseudorabies virus (PRV) or porcine parvovirus (PPV). The inactivating capacity of PAA–ethanol was investigated by determining virus titres in the supernatant or the tissue pellet at different time-points. In all virus-contaminated tissue samples treatment for 10 min with PAA–ethanol resulted in titre reductions by a factor of >103. PRV was rapidly inactivated below the detection limit (≤2.8 × 101 TCID50/ml). After 240 min a reduction by a factor of >104 was obtained for PPV in all samples, but a residual infectivity remained. Collagenous proteins of Achilles tendon, skin and cartilage had no adverse effect on the virus-inactivating capacity of PAA. PAA–ethanol used in the production process at the Charité tissue bank can therefore be recommended for treatment of non-osseous musculoskeletal tissues.