Time Course of Morphological Changes in Red Blood Cells and Banked Whole Blood Biochemical Parameters in Different Storage Periods

Objective: to reveal the patterns of blood biochemical changes, a trend in poikylocytosis, and impairment in the ultra-structure of red blood cells of the whole blood stored in citrate-phosphate-dextrose-adenine-1 during long-term storage. Material and methods. The whole blood that had been obtained from 5 donors aged 25±3 years of different sexes and stored at +2 to +4°С was examined. On storage days 1, 7, 14, 21, and 30, the morphological composition of a red blood cell population was assessed in monolayer blood smears (1000 cells per smear), by using an Olympus BX-500 microscope, computer, and ImageScopeM program. The surface of the red blood cell membranes was analyzed using an IntegraPrima NT-MDT atomic force microscope (AFM). Blood biochemical composition was examined using an i-stat 1® analyzer M: 300. Statistical processing was made with a STATISTICA 7 program. Results. A change in the biochemical composition of the whole blood was revealed within just the first 24 hours of storage. Morphological changes were observed in the red blood cells 3 days later. At 21 days, discocytes were 31.3±3.27% as compared to the control (in the first 24 hours) (p<0.0001). After 30 days of storage, altered red blood cells amounted to more than 80%, among them echinocytes prevailed as compared to the control (79.6±2.74%; p<0.0001). The examinations using AFM illustrated that the nanostructure of the red blood cell membranes tangibly changed with storage, they showed local lesions (excrescences of different sizes) growing into large spicules. Conclusion. The performed studies of the biochemical parameters of the blood, the morphological characteristics of the red blood cells and their membranes suggest that their changes evolved in just the first 24 hours of blood storage. The findings are essential for the development of new methods for storing blood and its components.