PREVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Standard refrigerator storage causes metabolic, protein, and lipid changes in human red blood cells (RBCs). Depending on processing and donor variability, the resulting changes can negatively impact post-transfusion viability of the RBCs1. Donor blood processing is a current topic of research directed toward optimizing methods to assess post-transfusion effectiveness2,3, while research on donor variability focuses on defining the contributions of donor-specific characteristics, e.g., the exposome, diet, drugs, age, sex, and genetics4,5. These factors are now known to be cumulative contributors to changes in the molecular, biochemical and physiological quality of RBCs intended for transfusion. Oxidative stress is a major modifier of normal RBC biology. Within the ex vivo setting of refrigerator storage, cumulative oxidative damage may increase because of ineffective or inadequate protective and repair processes6. A current hypothesis suggests that, rather than just chronological age, donor RBC differences may accelerate aberrant changes in proteins, lipids, and metabolism that are known to decrease RBC quality7. Therefore, new methods for assessing factors that are more determinative of donor blood quality are a logical step toward optimizing blood storage methodology. [ ... ]
pdf