Erythrocyte nucleotide stability and plasma hypoxanthine concentrations: improved ATP stability with short-term storage at room temperature.

We have measured erythrocyte nucleotide concentrations at timed intervals over 24 h in heparinised blood stored at 4 degrees C, room temperature, or 37 degrees C. The objective was to determine whether the grossly altered NAD concentrations found in the erythrocytes of patients with two different inherited purine disorders could be related to altered stability or turnover rates. An unexpected finding was the improved stability of all erythrocyte nucleotides in blood stored at room temperature compared with 4 degrees C. Not only was the breakdown of ATP greater at 4 degrees C compared with room temperature, higher hypoxanthine concentrations were present in the plasma associated with a fictitious increment in inosine. NAD and NADP, by contrast, showed remarkable stability in both control and patient erythrocytes, irrespective of their original value. Although these studies failed to establish an explanation for the altered NAD levels in the patients, the superior ATP stability in blood stored at room temperature in the erythrocytes from both patients and controls suggests that current practices of storing blood on ice for short-term studies require re-evaluation.