Archive: Omics and RBC Storage: Toward Personalized Transfusion Medicine

Transfusion of packed red blood cells is a life-saving treatment for approximately 4-5 million Americans every year (108 million units donated annually worldwide). Over the past decade, through the development of high-throughput omics approaches, we documented the temporal sequence of biochemical lesions to stored red blood cells, the so-called “storage lesion.” This presentation will summarize our work on the (i) characterization of RBC metabolism in all licensed and experimental storage additives (SAGM, AS-1, AS-3, AS-5, AS-7, PAGGSM, PAGGGM); (ii) the impact of processing and biological factors on the RBC storage quality; (iii) determination of the role of alternative storage (e.g., anaerobic storage, ascorbate) and reujuvenation strategies; (iv) the identification of metabolic markers of the RBC storage lesion; (v) the introduction of the concept of the metabolic age of the unit (molecular phenotype) instead of its chronological age (days elapsed since the time of donation); (vi) the appreciation of the blood donor “exposome”, including the impact of smoking, consumption of caffeinated or alcoholic beverages, prescription/over-the-counter drugs on blood storage. After viewing this lecture, participants should be able to: 1. Recognize the impact of omics approaches on the investigation of red blood cell biology and aging in the blood bank 2. Review the chronology of the red blood cell storage lesion and its impact on post-transfusion performances. 3. Describe the impyact of donor biology, processing strategies and the exposome on the red blood cell storage quality. Angelo D’Alessandro, PhD Associate Professor, Depts of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics; Medicine Division of Hematology University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Director, Metabolomics Core of the School of Medicine and Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource of the University of Colorado Cancer Center 3/30/22