Reduction of Oxidative Stress and Storage Lesions (RCSL) in Red Blood Cells - Analysis of Ascorbic Acid (AA), N-Acetylcysteine amide (AD4), and Serotonin (5-HT)

Oxidative stress is a common occurrence in red blood cell (RBC) storage in blood banks throughout the world. Typically RBC units stored under routine standard protocol (stored in SAGM-CPD additive solution) can only be kept up to 42 days for transfusion usage before being discarded. I am studying the effects of Ascorbic Acid (AA), N-acetylcysteine amide (AD4), and Serotonin (5-HT) as additives in blood bank storage because I want to find out if these additives can reduce storage-induced oxidative stress on red blood cells (RBCs), in order to help my reader understand how potential blood storage additives can affect the shelf life of blood and post-transfusion recovery in patients. I conducted literature review by studying various journal articles that looked from metabolism to proteomics and the synergy of the different additives. These various additives significantly alleviated a range of signs of oxidative stress on RBCs including but not limited to replenishing GSH, decreasing percent hemolysis and lysis, inhibiting the phospholipid rearrangement, and encouraging ATP production. By reducing these symptoms of oxidative stress, RBCs are able to last longer without any significant changes biochemically, and decrease the chances of post-transfusion complications such as Graft vs Host disease (GVHD). The new additive solution could potentially increase the patient’s outage post-transfusion recovery rates as well as increase the shelf life of RBC storage units past the standard 42 days. Future research should be examined at other additives such as DHA, which RBCs actual transporters in the membrane.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1220/thumbnail.jp