Application of platelet-rich plasma and other platelet-derivative products in Iranian studies

Introduction: The use of platelet products such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as a component of regenerative medicine has been on the rise in Iran like other countries. We aimed to go over the current published work of Iranian researchers on platelet products, while performing qualitative and quantitative assessments about them. Materials and Methods: This study was performed as review study. The keywords “platelet rich plasma”, “growth factor”, “Iran” and the same words in Persian were used for searching electronic databases. The databases for searching were Pub Med, Scopus, Cochrane central, Google scholar, Iranmedex and Irandoc. Results: Among the 2209 studies found in the primary search, 164 articles met the set criteria. The first article had been published in 2000 and the highest number of published research was 35 in the year 2014.Animal’s experimental studies were the most common type of study (58 studies). PRP was the most researched on product (76%). From the 164 Iranian articles, 95% had been performed in university research centers. Mashhad University of medical sciences had the most published work and Shahid Beheshti University and Islamic Azad University taking the next ranks respectively. Conclusion: A rising interest in performing such studies is seen in Iran and other countries in the region. Regardless of the field of application, Turkey possesses more publications in this subject compared to Iran; while Egypt and Saudi Arabia possess less published studies. It seems though, that standardizing the preparation of these products and the protocols of use is essential in reaching a common language for assessment of the performed studies