The isotonic PAGGSM prevented the initial RBC swelling caused by citrate-phosphate-dextrose less than hypertonic SAGM, but reduced the spontaneous haemolysis rate and osmotic fragility after 42 days of storage. All other parameters, such as echinocytosis, decreased RBC deformability and aggregability, and increased blood viscosity was similar for both additive solutions and remained a major problem of blood banking.
BACKGROUND
Prolonged storage of red blood cells leads to storage lesions, which may impair clinical outcomes after transfusion. A hallmark of storage lesions is progressive echinocytic shape transformation, which can be partially reversed by washing in albumin solutions. Here we have investigated the impact of this shape recovery on biorheological parameters.
METHODS
Red blood cells stored hypothermically for 6–7 weeks were washed in a 1% human serum albumin solution. Red cell deformability was measured with osmotic gradient ektacytometry. The viscosity of red cell suspensions were measured with a Couette-type viscometer. The flow behaviour of red cells suspended at 40% hematocrit was tested with an artificial microvascular network.
RESULTS
Washing in 1% albumin reduced higher degrees of echinocytes and increased the frequency of discocytes, thereby shifting the morphological index towards discocytosis. Washing also reduced red cell swelling. This shape recovery was not seen after washing in saline, buffer or plasma. Red cell shape normalisation did not improve cell deformability measured by ektacytometry, but it tended to decrease suspension viscosities at low shear rates and improved the perfusion of an artificial microvascular network.
CONCLUSIONS
Washing of stored red blood cells in a 1% human serum albumin solution specifically reduces echinocytosis, and this shape recovery has a beneficial effect on microvascular perfusion in vitro. Washing in 1% albumin may represent a new approach to improving the quality of stored red cells, and thus potentially reducing the likelihood of adverse clinical outcomes associated with transfusion of blood stored for longer periods of time.
Long-term intensive donor plasmapheresis under conditions investigated in this study is safe. All donors weighing > or = 70 kg are safely able to donate 850 ml of plasma in each session up to 60 times per year, provided that they are carefully monitored.
Regular donor plasmapheresis of up to 45 l of plasma per year appears to be as safe as more moderate plasmapheresis programmes, with respect to the parameters analysed in this study. Individuals donating under these conditions did not develop impaired humoral and cellular immunity, iron store depletion, or increased cardiovascular risk with regard to established biochemical risk markers. Prospective studies are required to determine more exactly than in retrospective analyses the reasons why donors withdraw from plasmapheresis programmes.
Compared with the two years preceding the implementation of a smoking ban, the incidence of AMI remained significantly reduced in the second year of the ban in Graubünden, whereas no similar reduction was seen in a comparable area without smoke-free legislation. Changes in outdoor air pollution or the use of lipid-lowering drugs did not substantially contribute to the decrease in the incidence of AMI that occurred after adoption of the ban in Graubünden.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.