Erythrocyte Preservation. Vi. The Storage of Blood With Purine Nucleosides 1

The addition of adenosine to stored blood results in a chemical restoration of deteriorated erythrocytes and sustains their viability during continued storage (1, 2).This phenomenon has been re- ferred to as the in vitro reversibility of a biochemical lesion of storage.Apart from the implications of this reaction in red cell metabolism (3), it seemed of importance to evaluate the effect of adenosine in the preservation of blood.The pres- ent study indicates that adenosine and some re- lated purine nucleosides retard the onset of the storage lesion and extend significantly the period of viability of stored blood.The effective concen- tration of these supplements, as well as their po- tential toxicity, is discussed. METHODSThe techniques for the measurements of erythrocyte phosphate partition, blood glucose, sodium and potassium, osmotic fragility, and aerobic utilization of glucose have been described (1, 4).Oxygen content and oxygen ca- pacity of erythrocytes were determined by the method of Van Slyke and Neill (5).Isotonic saline solutions of adenosine and its analogs were employed in concentrations of 50 to 100 imoles per ml.The nucleosides are soluble in warm saline.While relatively unstable with respect to re-precipitation at these concentrations, the nucleosides can be redissolved by subsequent heating.Sterilization of the solutions was accomplished by filtration through an ultrafine fritted pyrex glass disc.The method for the determination of adenosine concentration and absorption2 has been re- ported (1).In the experiments reported, the control sample re- fers to blood stored in ACD 8 alone.On the basis of in vitro studies on the synthesis of organic phosphate esters 1 This investigation was supported in part by research grants from the United States Atomic Energy Commis- sion (Contract AT(45-1)-343) and the Department of the Army, Office of the Surgeon General (Contracts DA49-007-MD-508 and DA-07-MD-512).2Although this phenomenon could be absorption into the cell and/or adsorption onto the membrane, we shall use the term, absorption, throughout.8 National Institutes of Health, Formula B.in stored blood, it was found unnecessary to maintain similar volumes in the samples within one experiment, and there were no additions made to the control aliquots, although nucleoside solutions were added to the experi- mental aliquots.Post transfusion survival of stored red cells was meas-