Well, as always the website selling the product doesn’t really say much about it. But this PolyHeme, oxygen carrying substitute made from real blood, has made its way to real life human trials and I was looking for more info about it. Supposedly its made from hemoglobin, but its stabilized and won’t cause renal failure like “real” hemoglobin does when blood cells become hemolyzed. And whatever happened to the chloride shift?!? Any straight dope would help.
I was reading about this in NewScientist this week; apparently not all of the problems have been worked out; vasoconstriction is still an issue and the precise cause is somewhat under debate. Doctors in the test area are apparently handing out bracelets with ‘I decline the PolyHeme trial’ (which, apparently, medical workers are obliged to observe).
Interestingly enough my hospital participated in some of the earlier trials using PolyHeme in surgery patients. No problems cropped up that I’m aware of. However it was a royal pain in the you-know-where to try and run labs on these patients. Most lab tests are colorimetric and PolyHeme temporarily turns a patient’s serum dark red.
The University trauma center here is starting field trials right now. The local papers have published a number to call for people wanting to opt out.