Blood Substitutes

The toxic side effects of early generations of red blood cell substitutes have stimulated development of more safe and efficacious high-molecular-weight polymerized hemoglobins, poly(ethylene glycol)-conjugated hemoglobins, and vesicle-encapsulated hemoglobins. Unfortunately, the high colloid osmotic pressure and blood plasma viscosity of these new-generation materials limit their application to blood concentrations that, in general, are not sufficient for full restoration of oxygen-carrying and -delivery capacity. However, these materials may serve as oxygen therapeutics for treating tissues affected by ischemia and trauma, particularly when the therapeutics are coformulated with antioxidants. These new oxygen therapeutics also possess additional beneficial effects owing to their optimal plasma expansion properties, which induce systemic supraperfusion that increases endothelial nitric oxide production and improves tissue washout of metabolic wastes, further contributing to their therapeutic role.