Survival of human erythrocytes in primate animals.
The recovery and survival of small quantities of 51Cr-labelled human erythrocytes (RBCs) transfused to nonhuman primates were measured. In two chimpanzees all of the human RBCs circulated 15 min after transfusion and were subsequently removed from the animals' blood with a half-life (T1/2) of 1.6 and 2.4 days. In baboons and rhesus monkeys over 95% of the human RBCs were cleared within 15 min after injection. Animal species, rather than antibody characteristics or titer, was an important determinant of the human RBC survival. Transfusion of human RBCs to chimpanzees can thus be explored as a test system to study human erythrocyte disorders.