Carboxylated nanodiamond and re-oxygenation process of gamma irradiated red blood cells

Nanodiamonds (NDs) possess exceptional physical, chemical, and biological properties, which make them suitable for potential biomedical applications. They are biocompatible and their usefulness as effective Raman/fluorescence probes for labeling as well as for drug delivery has been demonstrated. Related to their biocompatibility, the interaction between NDs and red blood cells (RBCs) is of great interest. In this work, the influence of carboxylated NDs (cNDs) in the re-oxygenation capability of both γ-irradiated and stored RBCs was studied. The standard 25 Gy γ dose recommended to prevent transfusion associated graft-versus-host disease was used. A 5-day maximum storage time was used to evaluate the “storage lesion”. The hemoglobin (Hb) oxygenation state was assessed by Raman microspectroscopy and the morphologic changes on cells were tracked by optical imaging. Our results show that irradiated RBCs have a better re-oxygenation capability and morphological recovery when they are in presence of cNDs.