Buffy-Coat

The buffy coat (English buff: buff, coat: film, film), sometimes referred to in German as the buffy coat, the boundary layer between red blood cells and the blood plasma, which arises when it is mixed blood with an anticoagulant and sediment can (or centrifuged ). The buffy coat is composed mainly of white blood cells and platelets, it accounts for only about one percent of the blood sample.

Use

When processing a unit of whole blood to red blood cell concentrates and fresh frozen plasma products, the buffy coat formed as by- product. The buffy coat can, free of white blood cells, are enriched in order to produce platelet concentrates, which can also be used in transfusion medicine. Some immunological or virological investigations of leukocytes are also performed with isolated buffy coat.