Comparison between radioactive isotope chromium-51 and stable isotope chromium-50 labels for the determination of red blood cell survival

Abstract

Radioactive ⁵¹Cr labelling is the most common method for the determination of red blood cell (RBC) life spans. The use of alternative non-radioactive or stable isotopes also provides a means of labelling. The purpose of the present work was to determine whether labelling with non-radioactive ⁵⁰Cr could provide an alternative to radioisotope labelling with ⁵¹Cr for the determination of RBC life spans. The survival of RBCs labelled with both non-radioactive ⁵⁰Cr and radioactive ⁵¹Cr was monitored by measuring the half-lives (t_½) using inductively coupled argon plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for ⁵⁰Cr and using a gamma counter for ⁵¹Cr. The values determined were statistically similar at the 95% probability level.