Banked blood losses are identified

DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. studies have determined human blood begins to degrade nearly immediately after it is donated to a blood bank.

Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center said they found blood quickly begins to lose a key gas -- nitric oxide -- that opens blood vessels to facilitate the transfer of oxygen from red blood cells to oxygen-starved tissues.

Thus, the scientists said, millions of patients are apparently receiving transfusions with blood that is impaired in its ability to deliver oxygen.

In two studies the scientists found restoring the gas to donated blood before transfusion appears to restore the red blood cells’ ability to transfer oxygen to tissues.

"It doesn’t matter how much oxygen is being carried by red blood cells, it cannot get to the tissues that need it without nitric oxide,” said Dr. Jonathan Stamler, senior author of one of the studies. "If the blood vessels cannot open, the red blood cells back up in the vessel and tissues go without oxygen. The result can be a heart attack or even death."

The research is reported in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.