No abstract

Storage of red blood cells in a nutrient-additive solution, AS-3 (Nutricel, Cutter Biological, Berkeley, CA), was evaluated after 42 and 49 days of storage by in vitro measurements of hemolysis, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, glucose levels and other constituents, and in vivo study of 24-hour survival of autologous, reinfused red cells labeled with 51Cr with and without 125I human serum albumin. Two laboratories conducted the studies independently. After 42 days of storage, hemolysis was within an acceptable range (0.72 +/- 0.4% and 1 +/- 0.2%), ATP decreased to 61 percent and 56 percent in the two laboratories, and 24-hour survivals were 85.1 +/- 8.3 percent for single-label cells in one laboratory and 82.8 +/- 10 percent (single-label cells) and 84.1 +/- 13.1 percent (double-label cells) in the second laboratory. Thus, results for single- and double-label cells were similar. After 49 days of storage, ATP fell to 45 and 46 percent in the two laboratories. Twenty-four-hour recovery fell to 69.4 +/- 7.4 percent with single-label cells and to 68.2 +/- 6.7 percent with double-label cells in one laboratory. In the other laboratory, a paired study comparing AS-3 with the already approved AS-1 solution (Adsol; Fenwal Laboratories, Deerfield, IL) showed nearly identical 24-hour survivals of 71.9 +/- 8.8 percent in Nutricel and 71.8 +/- 6.5 percent in Adsol. These studies demonstrate the excellent viability of the new solution after 42 days of study. At 49 days of study, viability decreased significantly and was comparable in the two nutrient-additive solutions studied. The value of paired comparison study is demonstrated by the latter results.

Serum IgE levels in healthy blood donors who had no history of atopy were measured by a paper-disc RIA and analyzed according to the donors' smoking habits. The IgE geometric mean for regular smokers was 41.7 IU/ml, which was significantly higher than that for nonsmokers (19.3 IU/ml) or rare smokers (22.7 IU/ml). Whereas 28% of smokers had IgE levels greater than 200 IU/ml, none of the rare smokers or nonsmokers did. IgE levels in smokers showed a moderate inverse correlation with the degree of smoking. The mean IgE level was 189.8 IU/ml in those who smoked 1-9 cigarettes/day but only 32.8 IU/ml in those who smoked 10-19 cigarettes per day and 11.1 IU/ml in those who smoked 20 or more cigarettes/day. The number of years a person smoked did not seem to significantly influence the IgE level. The mean IgE level in ex-smokers (50.5 IU/ml) was much lower than in current light smokers but was still higher than in nonsmokers. There was a moderate inverse correlation between IgE levels and duration of cessation of smoking. Our data suggest a characteristic pattern for the influence of cigarette smoking on serum IgE level, namely, a striking rise associated with light smoking and a remarkable drop in heavy smokers, and such changes seemed reversible after the habit was stopped. Smoking status, therefore, appears to be an important consideration in interpreting serum IgE levels and in revising the "norms" of IgE levels.

The reduction was hypothesized to be due to a Hawthorne effect, in which observed behavior is affected by the subject's awareness of the research study.

No abstract

Gene frequencies were computed in four racial categories from 5956 blood donors from California, Hawaii, Mexico City, and Texas. Calculations were based on the phenotypic distribution of 22 blood genetic systems including 7 blood groups and 15 genetically controlled polymorphic proteins and enzymes. Matching probabilities for 20 systems were approximately 1 in 100 000 Asians, 1 in 200 000 blacks, 1 in 330 000 Mexicans, and 1 in 1 000 000 whites. The complementary discrimination probability, which measures the likelihood that two random individuals do not match, was, for practical purposes, unity. The combined new technology for blood grouping and electrophoresis using cellulose acetate membranes provides a powerful individualizing and discriminating tool for forensic science investigation.

The transfusion of blood was only one of many scientific competitions in which the citizens of France and England engaged in the 1600s. This particular competition laid the foundations for transfusion therapy that were built on 100 years later when more was known about blood. At the time of the studies discussed here, the most important goal seemed to be the establishment of the primacy of the discovery by one or the other nation. In this, most scholars give Lower and the English the first animal-to-animal transfusion and Denys and the French the first animal-to-man transfusion. However, even though this national primacy might not seem so important now, we must realize that the international competition created knowledge that still benefits us today, and those results might not have been produced so swiftly if the competition had not taken place.

Many aspects of the production of cryoprecipitate were studied to determine which methods resulted in the greatest recovery of Factor VIII. The following recommendations resulted: 1) blood should be mixed with anticoagulant throughout phlebotomy; 2) blood should be centrifuged within a few hours of collection; 3) larger satellite bags should be used to contain the usual volume of plasma, for example, 200 ml of plasma should be frozen in a 600-ml capacity bag; 4) plasma should be centrifuged as soon as thawing is complete; 5) cryoprecipitate should be refrozen on dry ice; 6) cryoprecipitate should be stored at or below -30 C.; and 7) prolonged storage of frozen plasma or cryoprecipitate should be avoided. Variations in Factor VIII content from one bag of cryoprecipitate to another, under uniform production conditions, depends largely on two donor-specific attributes which tend to remain constant from time to time, namely, the donor's plasma Factor VIII level and the cryoprecipitability of his Factor VIII.