CORRELATION OF DISCOCYTE FREQUENCY AND ATP CONCENTRATION IN PRESERVEDBLOOD - A MORPHOLOGICAL INDICATOR OF RED-BLOOD-CELL VIABILITY

Red blood cells (RBC) are viable if kept in an adequate preservative s olution, although gradual changes in morphology and metabolism may occ ur. There is a gradual decrease in adenosined-5'-triphosphate (ATP) co ncentration, pH, glucose consumption, and enzyme activity during prese rvation. The normal discocyte shapes are initially replaced by echinoc ytes and stomatocytes and, at final stages, by spherocytes, the last s tep before splenic sequestration. Post-transfusional survival has been correlated with the ATP concentration. RBC preserved in ADSOL, a solu tion containing adenine, dextrose, sodium chloride, and mannitol, are viable for transfusion for up to 6 weeks. Erythrocytes from 10 blood u nits taken from healthy adult donors were preserved far 12 weeks in AD SOL at 4 degrees C. We now report a significant correlation (r(2) = 0. 98) between the percentage of discocytes (89 to 7%) and ATP (100 to 10 %) concentration in ADSOL-preserved RBC. The results suggest that the percent of discocyte shapes used as an indicator of ATP concentration may be a useful indicator for quality control of RBC viability in cent ers which have limited assay facilities.