Trypanosoma cruzi infection in transfusion medicine.

Introduction: Infection by Trypanosoma cruzi is challenging to blood bank supplies in terms of accurate diagnosis, mostly due to its clinical complexity. Infected individuals may remain asymptomatic for years, albeit they may have circulating parasites potentially transferable to eventual receptors of a transfusion.

Objective: Although risk donors are systematically excluded through a survey, an important residual risk for transmission remains, evidencing the need to implement additional actions for the detection of T.

Erythropoietin reduces storage lesions and decreases apoptosis indices in blood bank red blood cells.

Background: Recent evidence shows a selective destruction of the youngest circulating red blood cells (neocytolysis) trigged by a drop in erythropoietin levels.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of recombinant human erythropoietin beta on the red blood cell storage lesion and apoptosis indices under blood bank conditions.

Methods: Each one of ten red blood cell units preserved in additive solution 5 was divided in two volumes of 100mL and assigned to one of two groups: erythropoietin (addition of 665IU of recombinant human erythropoietin) and control (isotonic buffer solution was added).