STUDIES ON THE PRESERVATION OF BLOOD: VII. THE INFLUENCE OF INOSINE ON THE METABOLIC BEHAVIOR OF THE ERYTHROCYTE DURING THE PRESERVATION OF BLOOD IN THE COLD

Inosine, like other purine nucleosides when added to preserved blood specimens, induces a resynthesis of organic phosphate esters in the erythrocytes. Apart from the difference in rates of reaction, the metabolic reconstitution of the cells is the same at 37° and 4 °C. The reconstitution of the esters occurs rapidly even at 4 °C, and the higher the concentration of inosine added, the more prolonged is the maintenance of the esters. When inosine was added repeatedly to blood samples during storage, a phase of synthesis was induced with each addition of nucleoside. The capacity of the erythrocytes to resynthesize 2,3-diphosphoglyceric acid (DPG) remained normal regardless of the storage age of the sample but the capacity to replenish ATP decreased with the duration of storage. Addition of inosine at the end of the third week of cold storage can effect a high degree of restoration of metabolic viability in the cells at 4 °C within 24 hours.