Cell Surface Alterations During Blood-storage Characterized by Artificial Aggregation of Washed Red Blood Cells

Aggregation measurement of washed human erythrocytes (RBC) were carried out in a NaCl-PBS solution under laminar shear conditions. Artificial aggregation of fresh and stored erythrocytes was caused by decreased pH and reduced ionic strength and characterized by collision efficiency alpha. Generally, the collision efficiency alpha of stored erythrocytes rises with the increased storage time. Such an aggregation technique might be useful to detect and quantify changes of the membrane and/or the surface structure due to aging and/or storage.