Prospects of Vitamin C as an Additive in Plasma of Stored Blood

Abstract

There is a dire necessity to improve blood storage and prolong shelf-life of blood. Very few studies have focused on oxidative stress (OS) in blood and its influence on plasma with storage. This study attempts to (i) elucidate the continuous changes occurring in plasma during storage through oxidant levels and antioxidant status and (ii) evaluate the influence of vitamin C (VC) as an additive during blood storage. Blood was drawn from male Wistar rats and stored for 25 days at 4°C. Blood samples were divided into control and experimental groups. Plasma was isolated every 5 days and the OS markers, antioxidant enzymes, lipid peroxidation, and protein oxidation products, were studied. Catalase activity increased in all groups with storage. Lipid peroxidation decreased in VC (10) but was maintained in VC (30) and VC (60). Although there were variations in all groups, carbonyls were maintained towards the end of storage. Advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) increased in VC (30) and were maintained in VC (10) and VC (60). Sulfhydryls were maintained in all groups. Vitamin C could not sufficiently attenuate OS and hence, this opens the possibilities for further studies on vitamin C in combination with other antioxidants, in storage solutions.

Glutathione Depletion, Pentose Phosphate Pathway Activation, and Hemolysis in Erythrocytes Protecting Cancer Cells from Vitamin C-induced Oxidative Stress

“…To test this possibility, clinical monitoring of hemolytic parameters could be considered in future or ongoing clinical trials. Moreover, our studies suggest that VC alone may have limited utility in blood storage, where it has been tested extensively (20,21). Rather, preservation of erythrocytes in solutions with glucose and alternative anti-oxidants might better prevent RBC oxidative stress and hemolysis and promote longer term erythrocyte stability during storage.…”

Metabolic effect of alkaline additives and guanosine/gluconate in storage solutions for red blood cells

“…This observation, while preliminary, is suggestive of the fact that preserved energy homeostasis mitigates RBC spiculation, a “save or sacrifice” phenomenon to eliminate oxidation products (including oxidized lipids). However, preserved energy homeostasis in alkaline additives (especially PAG3M and E‐SOL 5) is not sufficient to completely prevent lipid oxidation, for which introduction of hydrophilic (e.g., ascorbate) or lipophilic (e.g., vitamin E) antioxidants may represent a better option . An alternative explanation to this phenomenon is an increase in oxidized lipid recycling through the Lands cycle, a phenomenon that is promoted by hypoxia 58 and may be similarly affected by alkalinization.…”

“…However, preserved energy homeostasis in alkaline additives (especially PAG3M and E-SOL 5) is not sufficient to completely prevent lipid oxidation, for which introduction of hydrophilic (e.g., ascorbate) or lipophilic (e.g., vitamin E) antioxidants may represent a better option. [30][31][32][33][34] An alternative explanation to this phenomenon is an increase in oxidized lipid recycling through the Lands cycle, a phenomenon that is promoted by hypoxia 58 and may be similarly affected by alkalinization.…”

“…26 In addition, the use of alternative sugars (or sugar alcohols) instead of glucose, such as mannose, fructose, or sorbitol (as a replacement for mannitol) 27,28 has been proposed as a viable strategy to bypass early glycolytic blockade promoted by feedback inhibition of phosphofructokinase by intracellular acidification, a mechanism evolutionarily exploited by animals such as naked molerats to resist extreme anoxia. 29 Finally, antioxidants such as vitamin C, N-acetylcysteine, and vitamin E have been proposed as additives for RBC storage in that they attenuate the oxidative storage lesion, especially to the lipid component, [30][31][32][33][34] which is relevant in the light of the correlation between lipid oxidation and posttransfusion recovery. 35 The current availability of new "omics" technologies is providing increased understanding of the RBC proteome and metabolome.…”

Ferric reducing ability of plasma: a potential oxidative stress marker in stored plasma

“…An antioxidant is defined as "any substance that, when present at low concentrations compared to those of an oxidizable substrate, significantly delays or prevents oxidation of that substrate" [11]. Various studies have reported the beneficial effects of antioxidants (L-carnitine [LC], curcumin [Cu], vitamin C [VC]) in blood storage solutions [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”