Transfusion of Red Blood Cell Stored for More than One Week Prolongs Anaerobic Metabolism in Hemorrhagic Rats

Abstract

The relationship between the storage period of red blood cells (RBC) and anaerobic metabolism in recipient rats was investigated by transfusing stored blood (Hct 33 %, 20 ml/kg) into Sprague-Dawley rats in a state of hemorrhagic shock. Samples of transfused blood with different storage periods were used, before storage "O-w" group (n = 17), one week of storage "1-w" group (n = 10) and two weeks of storage "2-w" group (n = 9). Plasma lactates in the recipient rats 15 min after bleeding were significantly elevated from approximately 11 to 19mg/dl (p<0.01). The lactate values as long as 95 min after RBC transfusion in the 0-w group were lower than those at 15 min after bleeding (# : p<0.05). Plasma lactates at 35 min and 65 min after RBC transfusion in the 1-w and 2-w groups were significantly decreased, but, reincreased at 95 min after RBC transfusion as high as those at 15 min after bleeding. There was a positive correlation between the filtering pressure, which indicates the deformability of transfused RBC, and the plasma lactate in recipient rats at 95 min after transfusion (R=0.313, p=0.004). The author concludes that the transfusion of RBC stored for more than 1 week prolongs anaerobic metabolism in animals with hemorrhagic shock.