"A safe product would permit vital-sign stabilization in trauma situations"

Posted: Thursday, July 23, 2009

PRESS RELEASE
Publication Date: July 23, 2009

New York, NY -- July 24, 2009. Scientists associated with the American Council on Science and Health today released a report on the fascinating and controversial topic of Blood Substitutes: Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers.

Written by Dr. Jerrold H. Levy of the Emory University School of Medicine and Emory Healthcare, the report explains the difficulty of producing a fluid to mimic the functions of blood, including its oxygen-carrying capacity.

Developing a safe blood substitute has been a goal of medical researchers for decades, prompted by the massive battlefield traumas of both World Wars and conflicts in Asia. Surgical procedures and civilian traumas such as motor vehicle accidents also cry out for safe blood substitutes, as does research on bloodborne pathogens such as HIV.

Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) from various sources (human, bovine, and recombinant) have been studied intensely, yet only one such product is available, and that is for veterinary use. Another is undergoing field trials for human use in South Africa. While there are no HBOCs on the horizon that might fully replace blood transfusions, a safe product would permit vital-sign stabilization in trauma situations until blood is available, without the fear of infectious agent transmission or transfusion reaction. Artificial blood supplies would also have a longer shelf-life.

•The HBOCs are solutions that are based on modified hemoglobin, and have been most extensively studied compared to other chemical derivatives. Although HBOCs may prove to be useful, there are major limitations.

•Five different HBOCs have been studied in clinical studies and another trial is planned.

•No such agents are yet approved for human use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), although a bovine product is approved for animal use here and is approved in South Africa for human use.

•In April 2008, multiple federal agencies including the FDA, NHLBI, and NIH sponsored a public workshop to discuss the safety of HBOCs.

•Even with a working HBOC, additional substances such as transfusion factors (clotting agents) may also be required. Further development of factor concentrates, recombinant clotting proteins, and platelet substitutes need further research and development in this therapeutic area.

Learn more in ACSH's downloadable booklet Blood Substitutes: Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers.

The American Council on Science and Health is a public health, consumer-education consortium of over 350 scientists and physicians, experts who serve on ACSH's scientific advisory panel. ACSH publishes reports on issues pertaining to the environment, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, and tobacco and helps the public deal with the real health risks productively.

CONTACT: Dr. Gilbert Ross, ACSH Medical Director: rossG@acsh.org (212-362-7044)