Differences in Rat and Human Erythrocytes Following Blood Component Manufacturing: The Effect of Additive Solutions

Small animal models have been previously used in transfusion medicine studies to evaluate the safety of blood transfusion products. Although there are multiple studies on the effects of blood banking practices on human red blood cells (RBCs), little is known about the effect of blood component manufacturing on the quality of rat RBCs.

Blood from Sprague-Dawley rats and human volunteers (n = 6) was collected in CPD anticoagulant, resuspended in SAGM or AS3, and leukoreduced. In vitro quality was analyzed, including deformability, aggregation, microvesiculation, phosphatidylserine (PS) expression, percent hemolysis, ATP, 2,3-DPG, osmotic fragility, and potassium concentrations.

Compared to human RBCs, rat RBCs had decreased deformability, membrane rigidity, aggregability, and microvesiculation after component manufacturing process. Rat RBCs in SAGM showed higher hemolysis compared to human RBCs in SAGM (rat 4.70 ± 0.83% vs. human 0.34 ± 0.07%; p = 0.002). Rat RBCs in AS3 had greater deformability and rigidity than in SAGM. The number of microparticles/µl and the percentage PS expression were lower in rat RBCs in AS3 than in rat RBCs in SAGM. Hemolysis was also significantly lower in AS3 compared to SAGM (2.21 ± 0.68% vs. 0.87 ± 0.39%; p = 0.028).

Rat RBCs significantly differ from human RBCs in metabolic and membrane-related aspects. SAGM, which is commonly used for human RBC banking, causes high hemolysis and is not compatible with rat RBCs.