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In vitro and in vivo measurements of gamma-radiated, frozen, glycerolized RBCs
C R Valeri1, L E Pivacek, G P Cassidy
1Naval Blood Research Laboratory, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. navblood@bu.edu
Background:
Transfusion-associated GVHD results from the presence of viable lymphocytes in transfused allogeneic blood components. Viable immunocompetent lymphocytes have been detected in RBCs that were frozen with glycerol and washed before transfusion.
Study Design And Methods:
The study reported here assessed the effect of irradiation on human RBCs frozen with 40-percent (wt/vol) glycerol and stored at -80 degrees C. In vitro and in vivo testing was done on human RBCs that were frozen with 40-percent (wt/vol) glycerol at -80 degrees C, with some units exposed to 2500 cGy of gamma radiation and others not irradiated, and that, after thawing and washing, were stored in a sodium chloride-glucose solution at 4 degrees C for 3 days before autologous transfusion.
Results:
The glycerol-frozen RBCs treated with 2500 cGy before deglycerolization had a mean freeze-thaw-wash recovery of 87 percent and a mean 24-hour posttransfusion survival of 86 percent after storage for 3 days at 4 degrees C in a 0.9-percent NaCl and 0.2-percent glucose solution. For the nonirradiated units, the mean freeze-thaw-wash recovery was 85 percent and the mean 24-hour posttransfusion survival was 83 percent.
Conclusion:
These data show similar, acceptable results for RBCs frozen with 40-percent (wt/vol) glycerol at -80 degrees C and treated in the frozen state with 2500 cGy of gamma radiation and for RBCs that were not irradiated, all of which were washed and then stored in a sodium chloride-glucose solution for 3 days before autologous transfusion.