EFFECT OF LOW CONCENTRATION OF MELATONIN ON THE QUALITY OF STORED RED BLOOD CELLS IN VITRO

Introduction. Oxidative stress is one of the important causes of red blood cells (RBCs) storage lesion. As a hormone, melatonin (MT) is also an effective antioxidant, however the pro- and antioxidative properties of MT depend on the cell type, redox state, as well as experimental conditions. Aim of this study - to investigate the protective effects of low concentration of MT on the stored RBCs in vitro. Materials and methods. Leukofiltered RBCs were incubated in MAP RBC additive solution with or without 150 pg/mL of MT for 42 days under blood bank conditions. The morphology, aggregation index, methemoglobin (MetHb), malondialdehyde (MDA), glucose, lactic acid and ATP of RBCs were detected on days 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 to observe the protective effects of MT during the storage of RBCs. Results. During RBCs storage, the number of deformed RBCs, relative hemolysis rate, aggregation index, MDA and MetHb were significantly affected by both storage time (p < 0.0001) and melatonin (p < 0.01), and they had interaction only on the number of deformed RBCs (p < 0.0001). The concentration of glucose, lactic acid and ATP were affected by storage time (p < 0.0001), but not by MT concentration (p > 0.05). The number of deformed RBCs, relative hemolysis rate, MDA and MetHb in MT group were significantly lower than that in control group at the end of storage stage (p < 0.05). Conclusion. Our study showed low hypnotic drug concentration of MT is speculated to have protective effects on the quality of stored RBCs through antioxidative mechanism.