Red blood cell substitute shows promise
TORONTO, July 25 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers said a mouse study suggested a red blood cell substitute based on human hemoglobin might lead to new sickle cell disease treatments.
The scientists -- led by Dr. Mark Crawford of the Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto -- said a newly developed hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier called HRC 101 dramatically improved survival in mice with "sickled" red blood cells exposed to low-oxygen conditions.
Patients with sickle cell disease need frequent blood transfusions to treat anemia and other complications, the researchers noted. Although such transfusions are beneficial, they have several short- and long-term risks.
"Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers are red cell substitutes that can be used to increase oxygen-carrying capacity and intravascular volume," the researchers wrote. They said HRC 101 might be useful in the management of sickle cell disease because of its potential to allow more oxygen to reach organs and tissues.
The scientists, however, said while animal studies are considered basic science, findings from such studies don't always translate to the complex physiological system of human beings.
The research is presented in the August issue of the journal Anesthesiology.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved
Then linked on the same page is this article;
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021112075812.htm
Physicians Offer New Solution For Blood Transfusions
Science Daily — The successful transfusion of a cell-free blood product on a 14-year-old Jehovah's Witness may offer a solution for patients opposed to blood transfusions due to religious or personal beliefs.
"This was the first successful use of a human cell-free hemoglobin solution in a pediatric patient to manage life-threatening anemia due to an autoimmune disease," says Dr. Brian Kavanagh, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and staff physician in critical care medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children. The patient suffered from immune thrombocytopenia, a condition that attacks platelets in the body. Platelets are present in blood and help blood clot; if platelet counts are very low, minor injuries or trauma can become very serious if the patient continues to bleed.
Kavanagh and colleagues Drs. Johann Hitzler and Natalie Anton treated the patient last year after she entered the hospital's emergency room for a nosebleed that did not stop. Instead of a blood transfusion, they used a biochemically manufactured solution that contains hemoglobin but does not contain red blood cells. The solution has been used in adults but never for a child in this kind of situation, Kavanagh says.
While more study needs to be done with pediatric patients, Kavanagh says this cell-free hemoglobin is a viable alternative for Jehovah's Witnesses. "Most current blood replacement options are fluids, plasma and other types of liquids that provide volume for blood but don't provide the oxygen-carrying capacity. This solution provides oxygen-carrying capacity in exactly the same way that blood cells in hemoglobin do. That's the crux of the matter. Still, only careful study will fully determine the balance of benefits and risk."
Kavanagh and colleagues reported this case in a fall issue of the British Journal of Haematology.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University Of Toronto
As Jw's break down the barriers and superstitions about these new products, and actually use them, could it lead to a wider opinion among them that use of actual blood is not all bad? Though they have 'excused away' the reality - the reality is that this is blood. And that is good news for the children.
Jeff