Abstract
Canine red blood cells (RBC) frozen and preserved in the presence of hydroxyethyl starch (HES), were shown to have ability to produce 2, 3-diphosphoglyceric acid (2, 3-DPG) and adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) after thawing, although the recovery rate of hemoglobin (Hb) was slightly lower than RBC frozen with glycerol (GL). When the HES-frozen RBC were exposed to physiological osmotic pressure after thawing without removing the cryoprotectants, 71% of Hb was recovered, whereas GL-frozen RBC were totally hemolysed. These results suggested that HES would be a clinically useful washing-free cryprotectant for blood transfusion.
