RTI International collaborates on multiple publications on Red Blood Cell-Omics Study

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC—RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, collaborated with several leading research organizations on seven articles on the development, execution and early findings of the Recipient Epidemiology Donor Evaluation Study (REDS)-III Red Blood Cell-Omics Study (RBC-Omics). The papers appear in the January 2019 issue of Transfusion. The collaborating organizations include Vitalant Research Institute, University of Pittsburgh, BloodCenter of Wisconsin, The Institute for Transfusion Medicine, the University of California in San Francisco and the American Red Cross Blood Services in Farmington, Conn. The research was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers focused their work on how common and rare genetic variants might modulate donor RBCs during storage. The study also considered how these variants might affect susceptibility to hemolysis in human diseases, like sickle cell anemia.

“No other study has explored the issues we have considered and we’re hopeful that these findings will help determine time limits on blood storage based on individuals’ genotype,” said Grier Page, PhD, a co-author on the papers and a senior fellow and statistical geneticist at RTI. 

The complete list of articles is detailed below:

• Blood, Sweat and Tears: Red Blood Cell-Omics Study Objectives, Design and Recruitment Activities.
• Frequent blood donations alter susceptibility of red blood cells to storage- and stress-induced hemolysis.
• Development and Evaluation of a Transfusion Medicine Genome Wide SNP Array.
• Methylation of protein aspartates and deamidated asparagines as a function of blood bank storage and oxidative stress in human red blood cells.
• Intra-donor reproducibility and changes in hemolytic parameters during red blood cell storage: results of recall phase of the REDS-III RBC-Omics study.
• Heterogeneity of blood processing and storage additives in different centers impacts stored Red Blood Cell metabolism as much as storage time: lessons from REDS III – Omics.
• Piloting and implementation of quality assessment and quality control procedures in RBC Omics: a large multi-center study of red blood cell hemolysis during storage.