Osmotic tolerance limits of red blood cells from umbilical cord blood.
Effective methods for long-term preservation of cord red blood cells (RBCs) are needed to ensure a readily available supply of RBCs to treat fetal and neonatal anemia. Cryopreservation is a potential long-term storage strategy for maintaining the quality of cord RBCs for the use in intrauterine and neonatal transfusion. However, during cryopreservation, cells are subjected to damaging osmotic stresses during cryoprotectant addition and removal and freezing and thawing that require knowledge of osmotic tolerance limits in order to optimize the preservation process. The objective of this study was to characterize the osmotic tolerance limits of cord RBCs in conditions relevant to cryopreservation, and compare the results to the osmotic tolerance limits of adult RBCs. Osmotic tolerance limits were determined by exposing RBCs to solutions of different concentrations to induce a range of osmotic volume changes. Three treatment groups of adult and cord RBCs were tested: (1) isotonic saline, (2) 40% w/v glycerol, and (3) frozen-thawed RBCs in 40% w/v glycerol. We show that cord RBCs are more sensitive to shrinkage and swelling than adult RBCs, indicating that osmotic tolerance limits should be considered when adding and removing cryoprotectants. In addition, freezing and thawing resulted in both cord and adult RBCs becoming more sensitive to post-thaw swelling requiring that glycerol removal procedures for both cell types ensure that cell volume excursions are maintained below 1.7 times the isotonic osmotically active volume to attain good post-wash cell recovery. Our results will help inform the development of optimized cryopreservation protocol for cord RBCs.
Centre for Innovation, Canadian Blood Services, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R8, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R8, Canada.
Mariia
M
Zhurova
School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2702, USA.
Ratih E
RE
Lusianti
School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2702, USA.
Adam Z
AZ
Higgins
Centre for Innovation, Canadian Blood Services, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R8, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R8, Canada. Electronic address: jacker@ualberta.ca.
Jason P
JP
Acker
D000328:Adult; D001793:Blood Preservation / Q000379:methods; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000187:drug effects*; D005615:Freezing / Q000009:adverse effects; D005990:Glycerol / Q000494:pharmacology; D006461:Hemolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007552:Isotonic Solutions / Q000494:pharmacology; D009995:Osmosis / Q000187:drug effects; D009997:Osmotic Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology
D003451:Cryoprotective Agents; D007552:Isotonic Solutions; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D005990:Glycerol
Biobanking; Cryopreservation; Cryoprotectant; Erythrocyte; Hemolysis; Hydraulic permeability; Osmotic fragility; Transfusion medicine