“…During storage, a progressive deterioration in the cellular, membranous, and metabolic properties of erythrocytes have been shown to take place, resulting in cell swelling, hemolysis, loss of deformability, and shape changes [1,2]. Shedding of membrane fragments as vesicles [3], and the inhibition in the cold of the Na + / K + -ATPase, with the consequent increase in intracellular Na + and decrease in intracellular K + contents [4], also occur. The concentrations of metabolites such as glucose, 2,3-BPG, and ATP decline with storage, and lactate accumulates, determining a pH decrease from 7.0 to *6.5 after 6 weeks of storage [5,6].…”