Abstract: A majority of military casualties occur during the pre-hospital period. The cause of death is largely associated with massive traumatic bleeding that leads to organ damage due to sustained hypoxia. Currently, therapeutics are lacking at the point of injury to mitigate hypoxic damage and maintain the survivability of severe hemorrhage prior to reaching medical facilities. This invention addresses that by introducing a method of co-administering prolyl hydroxylase domain inhibitor (PHDi, MK-8617), anti-fibrinolytic agent (tranexamic acid), and bradykinin receptor antagonist (icatibant) as anti-hemorrhage agents in combination with resuscitation fluid treatment with colloid solution of 25% human albumin that has an advantage of relatively small volume requirement to maintain blood volume. In addition, a kit comprising anti-hemorrhage agents that can be easily carried to the battlefield is also provided here.

Abstract: The present invention generally relates to the use of extracellular vesicles derived from cardiosphere-derived cells (CDC-EVs) as an anti-shock therapeutic. For instance, the present invention relates to a method of using CDC-EVs to treat polytrauma associated with coagulopathy and hemorrhagic shock in a subject in need thereof, wherein the lactate, glucose and/or creatinine levels in the subject are decreased upon being treated with a therapeutically effective amount of CDC-EVs. The results presented herein are of great relevance to the development of EV products for use in combat casualty care, as the studies presented herein show that CDC-EVs have the potential to be an anti-shock therapeutic if administered immediately after injury involving trauma associated with hemorrhagic shock and/or coagulopathy.

Abstract: This disclosure provides an assay and method for evaluating platelet function by measuring clot retraction in a grooved assay well using light transmittance in a low-volume, micro-plate formatted assay. The method takes advantage of the ability of platelets to draw the fibrin clot toward one side of the microplate well through an optical light path with readings recorded by a microplate reader. The method is rapid, tractable, has high precision, and yields time-series data that is quantitative. This allows clinicians and transfusion medicine practitioners to perform high throughput platelet function testing in patient samples and in blood/platelet products. Clot retraction serves as a functional biomarker to determine platelet function by performing the assay in a vessel that is scored to form a groove in which clot retraction occurs. Multiple samples can be tested simultaneously, and optionally an algorithm can be used to extract relevant parameters from the data.