Storage-Related Changes in Autologous Whole Blood and Irradiated Allogeneic Red Blood Cells and Their Ex Vivo Effects on Deformability, Indices, and Density of Circulating Erythrocytes in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery With Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

Objectives: Blood-processing techniques and preservation conditions cause storage lesions, possibly leading to adverse outcomes after transfusion. The authors investigated the metabolic changes and deformability of red blood cells (RBCs) during storage and determined the effect of storage lesions on circulating RBCs during cardiac surgery.

Design: Prospective study.

Changes in Erythrocyte Morphology at Initiation of Cardiopulmonary Bypass Without Blood Transfusion Were Not Associated With Less Deformability During Cardiac Surgery.

Objectives: During cardiac surgery, circulating red blood cells (RBCs) are at risk of exposure to environmental factors during extracorporeal circulation and transfusion of stored RBCs. For this study, the authors observed morphological differences, deformability, density distribution, and erythrocyte indices of RBCs during cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

Design: Prospective study.

Dose-dependent effect of stored-blood transfusions on recipient red blood cell indices, deformability and density.

We prospectively studied the dose-dependent effect of transfused stored red blood cells (RBCs) on recipient RBC indices, deformability and cell density in 10 patients administered stored RBCs for blood transfusion during general surgery. There were dose-dependent decreases in mean corpuscular volume and increases in mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration after completion of 4- and 6-unit stored RBC transfusions. The amount of dense populations increased proportionately with the amount of stored RBCs transfused.

An Unrecognized Function of Cholesterol: Regulating the Mechanism Controlling Membrane Phospholipid Asymmetry.

An asymmetric distribution of phospholipids in the membrane bilayer is inseparable from physiological functions, including shape preservation and survival of erythrocytes, and by implication other cells. Aminophospholipids, notably phosphatidylserine (PS), are confined to the inner leaflet of the erythrocyte membrane lipid bilayer by the ATP-dependent flippase enzyme, ATP11C, counteracting the activity of an ATP-independent scramblase. Phospholipid scramblase 1 (PLSCR1), a single-transmembrane protein, was previously reported to possess scrambling activity in erythrocytes.

Identification of a novel role for dematin in regulating red cell membrane function by modulating spectrin-actin interaction.

The membrane skeleton plays a central role in maintaining the elasticity and stability of the erythrocyte membrane, two biophysical features critical for optimal functioning and survival of red cells. Many constituent proteins of the membrane skeleton are phosphorylated by various kinases, and phosphorylation of β-spectrin by casein kinase and of protein 4.1R by PKC has been documented to modulate erythrocyte membrane mechanical stability.