Recent and future developments in modified hemoglobin and microencapsulated hemoglobin as red blood cell substitutes

Due to the absence of 2,3-DPG (outside red blood cells), hemoglobin gets excreted very quickly outside the red blood cells and does not release O2 well. Modified hemoglobin is an attempt to solve these problems. The development of modified hemoglobin red blood cell substitutes is presented. Based on the first generation blood substitutes, namely, saline and Ringer's lactate. This development leads to the second and third generation blood substitutes and to the development of the whole blood. The effect of nanocapsules to methemoglobin reductase enclosed in lipid vesicles is discussed including the conversion of methemoglobin to hemoglobin. The study shows promising results.