Effect of ozonation on resistance of ovine and human erythrocytes to hypothermic storage

Abstract

Long-term hypothermic storage of animal blood can lead to the loss of its quality and can cause complications in recipient animals after transfusion, so the search for new methods of increasing the preservation of erythrocytes after hypothermic storage continues. The article presents the data of the ozonation effect on the preservation rate of ovine and human erythrocytes during hypothermic storage with Alsever’s solution and mannitol medium. Hemolysis, osmotic fragility and distribution density of ovine and human erythrocytes by the sphericity index were determined at different stages of hypothermic storage. The ovine erythrocytes in the control had a lower osmotic resistance compared to human erythrocytes; however, their osmotic fragility did not change significantly after hypothermic storage for 8 weeks, and for human erythrocytes, it significantly increased. Storage of ovine and human erythrocytes longer than 8 weeks led to a sharp hemolysis, while the level of hemolysis of ovine erythrocytes was lower than that of human erythrocytes. Preservation of ozonated erythrocytes is higher than non-ozonated ones during prolonged hypothermic storage. The effect of ozonation on the preservation rate of red blood cells depended on the composition of the preservation media. Hypothermal storage of human erythrocytes in Alsever’s solution for up to 8 weeks led to a shift in the density of distribution according to the sphericity index towards spheroidization of cells; in a medium with mannitol, the number of flattened cell forms increased. After 8 weeks of hypothermic storage of ovine erythrocytes, most of the cells had high sphericity indices. Pretreatment of human and sheep erythrocytes with ozone allows the distribution of cells to be kept closer to the control during long-term storage, which is especially pronounced in mannitol medium. Ovine erythrocytes retained the ability to form rosettes with human T-lymphocytes after hypothermic storage for up to 12 weeks. Thus, ozone pretreatment and the use of mannitol as part of hypothermic storage medium could be an approach to improve the quality of preserved ovine erythrocytes.