Blood transfusion is an essential therapeutic modality in canine practice, yet the effective use of limited donor blood is constrained by red blood cell (RBC) storage lesion during cold preservation. This study investigated whether a mesenchymal stem cell–derived exosome solution could improve the storage stability of canine RBCs compared with saline alone. Washed RBCs from healthy donor dogs were suspended in three different storage media (saline, 50% exosome in saline, and 100% exosome) and stored at 4°C. Samples were collected on days 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28, and hematologic indices were measured using an automated analyzer. MCV, MCHC, RDW-CV, and RDW-SD were predefined as primary outcomes, expressed as a percentage of baseline (day 0 = 100%), and compared among groups at each time point using one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test (p < 0.05). RBC count, hemoglobin concentration, and hematocrit remained relatively stable across all groups over 28 days. In contrast, MCV increased and MCHC decreased over time in all media, consistent with progressive storage lesion, but the magnitude of change was attenuated in the 100% exosome group compared with saline. RDW-CV and RDW-SD also increased in all groups, indicating growing anisocytosis; at each post-baseline time point, saline showed the highest RDW values, whereas exosome-containing media, particularly 100% exosome, exhibited significantly lower RDW-SD from day 7 to day 28. These findings suggest that stem cell– derived exosomes may partially mitigate canine RBC storage lesion by stabilizing cell volume and size distribution during cold storage, warranting further mechanistic and in vivo studies.
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Conflict of Interest
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