Impact of nucleation temperature and hydroxyethyl starch on ice crystal growth: Implications for cell viability during extreme temperature fluctuations.

Extreme temperature fluctuations during routine handling and shipping of cryopreserved cell products significantly compromise product quality in ways that extend beyond the duration and peak temperature of the fluctuation. The type of cryoprotectant used and the initial ice nucleation temperature influence ice crystal growth during rewarming events, in turn impacting cell survival. Using a cryomicroscope together with temperature profiles recorded in cord-blood units, ice crystal growth was tracked through five transient-warming events (TWEs) that peaked at -30 °C, -20 °C, or -10 °C.

Manufacturing stresses do not differentially impact red blood cells from donors with diabetes.

Background And Objectives: With the rising prevalence of diabetes and expanded blood donor criteria in Canada, individuals with diabetes are increasingly contributing to the blood supply. However, little is known about how routine manufacturing affects red blood cells (RBCs) from this group. This study examined RBC differences in donors with type 1 (T1D) or type 2 diabetes (T2D) following processing to generate red cell concentrates (RCCs).

Irradiation and beyond: Mitigating TA-GVHD in transfusion.

Transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD) is a rare but often fatal complication of allogeneic transfusion, caused by the activation and expansion of donor T lymphocytes in susceptible recipients. Prevention focuses on reducing these immune cells through leukoreduction and irradiation. While leukoreduction of blood components decreases white blood cell content and improves overall transfusion safety, it does not fully prevent TA-GVHD, as viable T cells may persist.

Plasma-supplemented red cell concentrates as alternatives to whole blood in porcine ex vivo heart perfusion.

Background: Normothermic ex vivo organ perfusion holds promise for increasing the organ donor pool; however, standard use of autologous whole blood (WB) presents logistical and functional challenges. This study compared red cell concentrate (RCC)-, rejuvenated RCC-, and WB-based perfusates over a 4-hour ex vivo heart perfusion (EVHP) to assess blood quality and its impact on myocardial function.

Methods: Porcine WB was leukodepleted and hypothermically stored until perfusion.

Innovations in red blood cell preservation.

The global infrastructure supporting nearly 100 million transfusions annually relies on the ability to store red cell concentrates (RCCs) for up to 42 days at hypothermic temperatures or indefinitely at low sub-zero temperatures. While these methods are generally effective, there is both an opportunity and, in specific settings, a need to refine storage techniques that have remained largely unchanged since the 1980s. Recent research has identified ways to address limitations that were not fully understood when these methods were first implemented in blood banks, with much of it focusing on modifying conventional storage strategies, while some studies explore alternative approaches.

Supercooled storage of red blood cells slows down the metabolic storage lesion.

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, a life-saving intervention, is limited by reduced RBC potency over time. Cold storage at +4 °C for up to 42 days can reduce transfusion efficacy due to alterations termed the "storage lesion." Strategies to mitigate the storage lesion include alkaline additive solutions and supercooled storage to extend storage by reducing metabolic stresses.

Cold storage surpasses the impact of biological age and donor characteristics on red blood cell morphology classified by deep machine learning.

Assessment of the morphology of red blood cells (RBCs) can improve clinical benefits following blood transfusion. Deep machine learning surpasses traditional microscopy-based classification methods, offering more accurate and consistent results while reducing time and labor intensity. RBCs from teenage males, teenage females, senior males, and senior females were biologically age-profiled or density-separated into dense/old RBCs (O-RBCs) and less-dense/young (Y-RBCs) throughout hypothermic storage and assessed using image flow cytometry with deep machine learning analysis.

Variation in the osmotic characteristics of aging red blood cells: insights for cryopreservation optimization.

Cryopreservation is a long-term storage strategy for maintaining the quality of red blood cells (RBCs) used for clinical and industrial purposes. However, cryopreservation can induce osmotic stress, leading to a 15 to 20% loss of RBCs during freezing/thawing and cryoprotectant addition/removal. This study investigated how the biological aging of RBCs influences their osmotic characteristics.

Deglycerolization of manually glycerolized, frozen red cell concentrates using a closed system cell processor.

Background: Historically, red cell concentrates (RCCs) have been manually glycerolized and deglycerolized using an open system (COBE 2991, Terumo). Implementation of a closed system cell processor (ACP-215, Haemonetics) for glycerolization and deglycerolization of RCCs creates a challenge for management of the historic cryopreserved RCC inventory. A study was undertaken to determine whether manually glycerolized frozen RCCs could be deglycerolized using the closed system processor, as the open system processors are being discontinued.

The association of donor and recipient sex on sepsis rates and hemoglobin increment among critically ill patients receiving red cell transfusions in a retrospective study.

Background: Existing research presents conflicting results on the influence of blood donor sex on hemoglobin (Hb) change and transfusion-associated infection and mortality in transfusion recipients.

Aim: This retrospective study explored the association between donor and recipient sex on hospital-onset sepsis (HO-sepsis) and Hb changes in critically ill patients receiving red blood cell (RBC) transfusions.

Methods: Data from 2010-2020 were extracted from an academic hospital's clinical database and a blood supplier's donor database.

Prolonging neutrophil room-temperature storage with clinically approved solutions: implications for granulocyte transfusion.

Granulocyte concentrates (GCs) are leukocyte preparations enriched in neutrophils that can potentially save neutropenic patients from life-threatening, antimicrobial-resistant infections. The main challenge of GC transfusions is preserving the viability and antimicrobial activity of neutrophils beyond 24 h to reduce the logistical burden on collection centers and increase the availability of this cell therapy. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore extending the ex vivo viability and antimicrobial activity of GC neutrophils up to 72 h with a unique combination of the clinically approved additives Plasma-Lyte (PL), SAGM, AS-3, and Alburex.

Impact of input volume on red cell quality in deglycerolized RBCs using a modified ACP-215 protocol.

Background: The ACP 215 automated cell processor is used to glycerolize and deglycerolize red cell concentrates (RCCs). Its primary advantage over the COBE 2991, previously used to cryopreserve RCCs, is that it maintains a closed system enabling extended post-thaw expiry. However, it was observed that post-deglycerolization hematocrits (Hct) of units processed with the LN236 kit are markedly lower than those processed using the COBE 2991.

Donor age contributes more to the rheological properties of stored red blood cells than donor sex and biological age distribution.

The quality of stored red cell concentrates (RCCs) has been linked to the biological age distribution of red blood cell (RBC) subpopulations. Teenage male RCCs contain higher proportions of biologically old RBCs, with poorer quality. This study sought to assess the contribution of donor sex and age on the deformability characteristics of RBC subpopulations in stored RCCs.

Ice recrystallization inhibitors enable efficient cryopreservation of induced pluripotent stem cells: A functional and transcriptomic analysis.

The successful use of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for research or clinical applications requires the development of robust, efficient, and reproducible cryopreservation protocols. After cryopreservation, the survival rate of iPSCs is suboptimal and cell line-dependent. We assessed the use of ice recrystallization inhibitors (IRIs) for cryopreservation of human iPSCs.

Hemoglobin-oxygen affinity changes in neonatal blood transfusions: RBC selection insights.

Background: Despite preterm newborns often requiring blood transfusions, we have an incomplete understanding of the impact of adult packed red blood cell (pRBC) transfusions on fetal red blood cell (RBC) oxygen affinity. We investigated the influence of adult pRBC on oxygen binding in fetal RBCs obtained from the umbilical cord of preterm newborns. This included exploring the influence of the biological age of adult pRBCs on the oxygen affinity of fetal blood.

RBC subpopulations in RCCs affected by donor factors.

Understanding red blood cell (RBC) subpopulations is crucial for comprehending donor variability and enhancing transfusion outcomes. This review highlights the significance of RBC subpopulations, focusing on the properties of biologically young and old RBCs and underscores how donor variability impacts transfusion outcomes. The role of senescent RBCs in adverse transfusion reactions and the emerging significance of circulating erythroid cells (CECs) is discussed.

Editorial: Advancing the cryopreservation of cells, tissues and organs using model biological systems.

This Editorial introduces and contextualizes the papers of the Virtual Special Issue: Advancing the Cryopreservation of Cells, Tissues and Organs Using Model Biological Systems.

Shipment of Glycerolized RBC Segments for Red Cell Concentrate Compatibility Testing.

Red cell concentrate (RCC) cryopreservation allows for long-term storage of RCCs with rare phenotypes. Currently, tubing segments are not produced for these frozen units. Pre-transfusion compatibility testing therefore requires thawing and deglycerolization of the whole unit.

Extended supercooled storage of red blood cells.

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusions facilitate many life-saving acute and chronic interventions. Transfusions are enabled through the gold-standard hypothermic storage of RBCs. Today, the demand for RBC units is unfulfilled, partially due to the limited storage time, 6 weeks, in hypothermic storage.

Modification of deglycerolization procedure improves processing and post-thaw quality of cryopreserved sickle trait red cell concentrates.

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is a critical therapy for those with sickle cell disease (SCD). Alloimmunization is frequent for those with SCD and may limit the availability of matched RBC. Cryopreserved RBCs, from family members or donors with a similar RBC antigen profile could provide a viable alternative to avoid further alloimmunization and prevent hemolytic transfusion-related events.

A perspective on exogenous redox regulation mediated by transfused RBCs subject to the storage lesion.

Granted with a potent ability to interact with and tolerate oxidative stressors, RBCs scavenge most reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) generated in circulation. This essential non-canonical function, however, renders RBCs susceptible to damage when vascular RONS are generated in excess, making vascular redox imbalance a common etiology of anemia, and thus a common indication for transfusion. This accentuates the relevance of impairments in redox metabolism during hypothermic storage, as the exposure to chronic oxidative stressors upon transfusion could be exceedingly deleterious to stored RBCs.

Advancing in vivo assessment of red blood cell transfusions: A call for radiation-free methods in transfusion medicine.

RBC transfusions are a vital clinical therapy to treat anemic patients. The in vivo assessment of red blood cell (RBC) quality post-transfusion is critical to ensuring that the introduction of new RBC products meet established regulatory and clinical quality requirements. Although in vitro quality control testing is routinely performed by blood manufacturers, it is crucial that in vivo tests are performed during the evaluation and regulatory process of new RBC products.