Comparison of the cryoprotection of red blood cells by 1,2-propanediol and glycerol.

Red blood cells are cooled in buffered solutions containing 10, 15, 20, 30, or 35% (w/w) 1,2-propanediol or glycerol. Cell survival is measured after cooling to -196 degrees C at rates between 1 and 3500 degrees C/min, followed by rewarming rapidly, except in a few cases. At low cooling rates, where the injuries are due to solution effects, for the same (w/w) concentrations of 15 or 20% (w/w), 1,2-propanediol protects erythrocytes better than glycerol. Differences are still observed when the two cryoprotectants are compared on a mole-fraction basis. At high cooling rates the survival passes through a minimum and then increases again. For the same concentrations, the minimum occurs at much lower cooling rates with 1,2-propanediol than with glycerol, in agreement with the better glass-forming tendency of 1,2-propanediol solutions. These cooling rates almost coincide with those at which the quantity of ice crystallized begins to decrease in the corresponding solutions. Thus, survival seems to be closely related to the glass-forming tendency at the survival minimum, and at higher cooling rates. After the fastest cooling rates, the warming rates necessary to avoid damage on warming are much smaller than those necessary to avoid devitrification. Therefore, in the present experiments the survivals are not related to the stability of the wholly amorphous state. However, injury follows the presumed transition from cubic to hexagonal ice, in erythrocytes as well as in other kinds of cells.