Introduction. The initial parameters of the pro-oxidant-antioxidant homeostasis of packed red blood cells (РRBCs) play an important role in their “aging” speed during blood bank storage. Thus, significant activation of free radical oxidation processes causes substantial structural and functional damage to red blood cells, which generally threatens the safety of the clinical use of such transfusion agents. Therefore, the study of the initial parameters of the PRBCs state should be considered key to understanding the modification pathways for their long-term storage conditions. The initial indicators of lipid peroxidation and catalase activity are extremely relevant in this aspect.

The aim of this research was to study the oxidative activity by lipoperoxidation markers and the catalase levels in donor red blood cells of different collection years.

Materials and methods. The objects of the study were PRBCs prepared with preservative solutions approved for use in industrial transfusion medicine. The activities of lipid peroxidation, catalase, and the peroxidation resistance of red blood cells were studied on the first day after production. 

Results. Significant differences (p < 0.0001) were found in the indicators of lipid peroxidation, catalase activity, and indicators of cell membrane stability according to the data on peroxide resistance in the experimental groups. According to archival data, a comparative analysis of the specified indicators was conducted retrospectively in groups divided according to the characteristics of different harvest years. The importance of such results is in the high probability of change consequences in basic indicators with a tendency to the progressive pro-oxidant process intensification in freshly prepared PRBCs. Such intergroup differences may indicate changes in the ranges of cell adaptation capabilities to physicochemical factors, which probably affect of the red blood cell components quality during its long-term hypothermic storage in standard blood bank conditions.

Conclusions. Considering the central role of oxidative processes in the genesis of the “aging” of red blood cells during storage, the study confirmed the prospect of identifying additional factors that affect the pro-oxidant-antioxidant activity in the donor’s body, from the point of view of implementing further preventive steps to improve the quality of red blood cell components. 

Keywords: red blood cells, hypothermic storage, quality of blood components, metabolism, lipid peroxidation, “aging” of red blood cells.