Comparison of Blood Stored in ACD and in a Solution Containing Heparin, Phosphate, Glucose and Adenine

Duplicate blood samples were obtained from six healthy young males, one aliquot was collected in ACD and one aliquot in a solution of heparin-glucose-phosphate-adenine (HGPA). All were stored under blood bank conditions for a total of four weeks. The HGPA samples maintained their ATP and nucleotide adenine levels much better than the ACD samples and had generally higher p H's and faster rates of glycolysis. Their osmotic fragility and plasma K⁺ levels were similar to those of the ACD samples. Because there was considerably more hemolysis in the HGPA samples than in the ACD samples and in the absence of red cell survival data, the HGPA system is not recommended at this time as a substitute for the ACD system but as a comparative system to reveal metabolic shortcomings of the ACD storage system.