Changes in the Phosphate Compounds of the Human Red Blood Cell during Blood

The normal human red blood cell, when withdrawn from the circulation, contains a substantial pool of water-soluble organic phosphate compounds, most of which are metabolic intermediates whose concentrations are maintained at constant levels by the glucose metabolism of the cell (1). If blood is stored under blood bank conditions in acid citrate dextrose (ACD) preservative, the organic phosphates of the red cell gradually disappear and inorganic phosphate accumulates. The decline of the organic phosphates coincides with a general deterioration of the cell, for example with a decrease in the glycolytic rate, an inability to concentrate potassium ions and a loss of viability measured by post-transfusion survival (2-4). Several observations have been made previously on the individual phosphate compounds during the storage of human blood in ACD (5-8). In the present study advantage is taken of the high resolution capacity of column chromatography on ion-exchange resins to obtain more complete quantitative information about the nature and changes of the phosphorylated intermediates of red cell metabolism.