New Blood Substitute May Reduce AIDS Risk
A new artificial blood substitute has shown promising results in animal experiments and may significantly reduce transmission of human blood-borne diseases such as AIDS, according to a report to the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
Chicago research scientist Ljubomir Djordjevich said in a paper to be given today that the substitute “appears to be the first artificial blood product that successfully imitates red blood cells in delivering oxygen to tissue.”
In addition, he said, the substitute can be stored months longer than natural blood and “can be used as universal donors because they can be given to people with different blood groups.”
The scientist said in tests with rats, rabbits and dogs “that had almost all of their natural blood replaced by (synthetic blood) the animals maintained routine body function by breathing normal room air.”
3 Years Until Human Testing
Djordjevich, who with his team works in the anesthesiology department of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, cautioned that although early animal experiments “are encouraging,” human trials of the substitute are not expected for at least three years.
“The next step is to test the new artificial substitute in primates, and then in humans,” he said.
The synthetic substance, the researcher reported, “may significantly reduce the risk of causing transfusion reactions and transmitting blood-borne diseases, such as AIDS and hepatitis.”
AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, destroys the body’s ability to fight off disease and is currently incurable, having caused thousands of deaths in this country and elsewhere. Hepatitis is a sometimes fatal liver disease that also has been a major risk in blood transfusions.
