Maintenance of ATP Level of Incubated Human Red Cells by Controlling the pH

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Abstract
Fresh human blood was incubated at 37 C. in ACD solution, heparin‐glucose solution, and heparin‐glucose solution with pH controlled by automatic titration with sterile NaHCO3 solution. In ACD solution glycolysis of the red cells slowed down with time and concomitantly the ATP level decreased sharply. In heparin‐glucose solution, glycolysis continued more vigorously and the ATP levels were maintained longer. In the flasks in which the lactic acid was neutralized continuously, glycolysis proceeded almost unabated, and the ATP levels were correspondingly well maintained. Red cell viability and survival are presently assumed to be related to glycolytic maintenance of adequate levels of ATP. These studies demonstrate that storage of blood in heparin‐glucose may prolong the red cell viability over that in ACD, and that neutralization of the lactic acid produced in glycolysis gives such dramatic improvement that a whole new system of blood storage may be predicated on this principle.