STUDIES ON GRANULOCYTE FUNCTION IN ACD-PRESERVED BLOOD

Abstract

We studied the function in vitro of human granulocytes. Human granulocytes were isolated from whole blood collected into acid-citrate-dextrose (ACD) and from the buffy coat of ACD-collected blood by dextran sedimentation. The whole blood is preserved in glass bottles and the buffy coat in plastic bags.
We measured viability, chemotaxis, phagocytosis-connected oxygen consumption and chemiluminescence in granulocytes isolated from blood by dextran sedimentation.
The data suggest the following: (1) in the all functions of granulocytes, the buffy coat preserved in plastic bags showed less changes than the whole blood in glass bottles. (2) on the effect of storage, these functions can not be kept for 2 days at 4°C in human granulocytes isolated from the buffy coat.
These studies suggest that storage of normal granulocytes used for transfusion should be limited to approximately 24 hours.