Reduction of Oxidative Stress and Storage Lesions (RCSL) in Red Blood Cells: Analysis of Ascorbic Acid (AA), N-Acetylcysteine amide (AD4), and Serotonin (5-HT)

Oxidative stress is a common occurrence in red blood cell (RBC) storage in blood banks throughout the world. Typically RBC units stored under routine standard protocol (stored in SAGM-CPD additive solution) can only be kept up to forty-two days for transfusion usage before being discarded. I am studying the effects of Ascorbic Acid (AA), N-acetylcysteine amide (AD4), and Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5- HT) as additives in blood bank storage to find out if these additives can reduce storageinduced oxidative stress on red blood cells (RBCs), as well as to understand how potential blood storage additives can affect the shelf life of blood and post-transfusion recovery in patients. I conducted a literature review by studying various journal articles that examined metabolism to proteomics and the synergy of the different additives. These various additives significantly alleviated a range of signs of oxidative stress on RBCs including but not limited to replenishing glutathione (GSH), decreasing percent hemolysis, inhibiting the phospholipid rearrangement, and encouraging ATP production. By reducing these symptoms of oxidative stress, RBCs are able to last longer without any significant changes biochemically, and decrease the chances of post-transfusion complications such as Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD). The new additive solution could potentially increase the patient’s post-transfusion recovery rates as well as increase the shelf life of RBC storage units past the standard forty-two days

The Extension of RBC Longevity and Functionality in the Prevention of Graft Versus Host Disease

Given today’s current scientific method of preservation, red blood cells (RBCs) donated or drawn from live humans have a storage life of approximately 42 days, after which the blood will be discarded due to of degradation of the RBCs. The mechanism that drives said degradation is known as oxidative stress, in which the cells’ inability to balance out the creation and excretion of free radicals causes a conformational change in the shape and efficacy of RBCs. In order to counteract the oxidative actions upon the cells, it has been thought that the addition of reducing agents, specifically ascorbic acid, the reduced form of Vitamin C, to the matrix in which the cells are stored can push back the adverse effects of oxidation, allowing the cells to be stored for at least 56 days. The method by which we quantify the efficacy of the said ascorbic acid treatment involves the measurement of blood redox potential using Nanoporous Gold Electrodes (NPGs). By using nanoporous electrodes in contrast to the more conventional planar electrodes, we can minimize the effects of biofouling on the electrochemical response, giving us more reproducible and consistent results. Through Open Circuit Potential (OCP) measurements, we have measured the redox potential of packed RBCs in both large volumes (milliliters) and in single drops (sub-microliters) over a 56-day period. The general statistical trend of the results of the OCPs over the past few months seems to suggest that the ascorbic acid treatment does indeed help stabilize the redox potential of RBCs.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1260/thumbnail.jp

Reduction of Oxidative Stress and Storage Lesions (RCSL) in Red Blood Cells - Analysis of Ascorbic Acid (AA), N-Acetylcysteine amide (AD4), and Serotonin (5-HT)

Oxidative stress is a common occurrence in red blood cell (RBC) storage in blood banks throughout the world. Typically RBC units stored under routine standard protocol (stored in SAGM-CPD additive solution) can only be kept up to 42 days for transfusion usage before being discarded. I am studying the effects of Ascorbic Acid (AA), N-acetylcysteine amide (AD4), and Serotonin (5-HT) as additives in blood bank storage because I want to find out if these additives can reduce storage-induced oxidative stress on red blood cells (RBCs), in order to help my reader understand how potential blood storage additives can affect the shelf life of blood and post-transfusion recovery in patients. I conducted literature review by studying various journal articles that looked from metabolism to proteomics and the synergy of the different additives. These various additives significantly alleviated a range of signs of oxidative stress on RBCs including but not limited to replenishing GSH, decreasing percent hemolysis and lysis, inhibiting the phospholipid rearrangement, and encouraging ATP production. By reducing these symptoms of oxidative stress, RBCs are able to last longer without any significant changes biochemically, and decrease the chances of post-transfusion complications such as Graft vs Host disease (GVHD). The new additive solution could potentially increase the patient’s outage post-transfusion recovery rates as well as increase the shelf life of RBC storage units past the standard 42 days. Future research should be examined at other additives such as DHA, which RBCs actual transporters in the membrane.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1220/thumbnail.jp