The effect of desferrioxamine on stored erythrocytes: lipid peroxidation, deformability, and morphology

Acid-citrate-dextrose (ACD) was introduced in 1947 as a nutrient-anticoagulant solution to preserve stored whole blood. A decade later, the introduction of citrate-phosphate-dextrose (CPD) resulted in the successful preservation of whole blood for 21 days. In 1978, added adenine and increased glucose concentration (CPDA-1) increased storage to 35 days. More recently, other solutions such as AS-1, further increased the acceptable storage time of packed cells, but cost and inconvenience have limited their use. Several recent studies have investigated the possibility of increasing the shelf-life of whole blood by the addition of various antioxidants. In the current study a comparison was made of the effects of the metal chelator desferrioxamine on several parameters of stored red cells. Thus, measurement was made of plasma malondialdehyde levels, a measure of lipid peroxidation, red cell filtration times, a measure of red cell deformability, and red cell morphology by electron microscopy. Our results showed that adding desferrioxamine significantly decreased levels of plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and slowed the loss of erythrocyte deformability. Although red cell morphology suggested that the treated cells maintained their normal appearance longer than untreated cells, the differences were not statistically significant. These results suggest that the addition of desferrioxamine to CPDA-1 anticoagulated blood might be effective in prolonging the viability of stored erythrocytes.