Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 3, 2026
A Quantitative Assessment of the Phagocytosis of Allogeneic and Xenogeneic Erythrocytes by Rat Macrophages In Vitro
Published on: August 22, 2025
Accelerated clearance of human red blood cells in a rat transfusion model
M Straat1,2, Trl Klei3, D de Korte4
1Department of Intensive Care, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. m.straat@amc.uva.nl.
Background:
Animal models are valuable in transfusion research. Use of human red blood cells (RBCs) in animal models facilitates extrapolation of the impact of storage conditions to the human condition but may be hampered by the use of cross species.
Methods:
Investigation of clearance and posttransfusion recovery in a rat model using fresh and stored human RBCs.
Results:
Directly following transfusion, human RBCs could be detected in the circulation of all recipients, with higher recovery rates for stored RBCs than for fresh RBCs. After 24 h following transfusion, no donor RBCs could be detected in the circulation, but donor RBCs could be detected in all organs of all recipients.
Conclusion:
The use of human donor RBCs in a rat transfusion model resulted in clearance from cells from the circulation. Donor cells were found in different organs of the recipients. Rat transfusion models are thus not appropriate to study the efficacy of human RBC transfusion.
