The preservation of human red blood cell agglutinogens in liquid nitrogen: study of a technic suitable for routine blood banking.

By WILLIAM R. BRONSON AND M .iiy H. McGINNIs5 With the technical aid of Robert J. Eisel A PANEL of erythrocytes of known antigenic structure has become increasingly important not only in experimental immunohematology but also in routine blood banking procedures. Cells kept at 4 C.’2 and glycerolated cells stored at -20 C.3’4 are frequently used for this purpose. Recently Strumia5 described a technic for preserving lactose-dextrose modified cells at -93 C. Because these methods have important disadvantages, a liquid nitrogen red cell preserving technic, practical for routine blood bank use, was investigated in this laboratory. Antigens of fresh cells, of cells stored in glycerol, and of cells preserved in liquid nitrogen were compared and the reliability of liquid nitrogen panel cells for identifying irregular red blood cell antibodies was determined. The use of liquid nitrogen to freeze red blood cells was first described by Luyet.#{176} He obtained a 72 per cent yield of intact cells after thawing a thin layer of blood frozen in liquid nitrogen. Meryman and Kafig7’8 refined the technics for freezing blood in liquid nitrogen and demonstrated the ability of these cells to survive in a compatible recipient. In 1960, Huntsman, Hum, and Lehman9 published a brief preliminary report on the reactivity of 10 red cell antigens frozen in liquid nitrogen. Tests before and immediately after freezing did not reveal any change in agglutinability of the thawed cells. Gibbs et al.’#{176} in a paper now in press reported that the A and B agglutinogens retained their integrity after storage in liquid nitrogen for two years.