Time Course For Recovery Of Haemoglobin Mass After One Unit Of Blood Donated

Abstract

After a standard blood donation haemoglobin concentration ([Hb]) returns to pre-donation levels after 4 weeks (Wadsworth G.R. JAP, 1955). Although, the increase in [Hb] is driven by erythropoiesis, variations in plasma volume could confound the study of the time course recovery process. PURPOSE: To investigate if the increases in blood [Hb] after blood donation correspond to the actual increase in haemoglobin mass (tHb-mass). A second purpose was to describe the time-course for full recovery of the haemoglobin drawn in a regular donation (i.e., 450 mL of blood withdrawal). METHODS: [Hb], hematocrit (Htc), tHb-mass, % reticulocytes and erythrocyte concentration were measured in 5 young (28.8 ±2.7 yrs) physically active (3 days/week; VO2max = 49.7 ± 5.2) healthy donors. Blood samples were collected, tHb-mass and blood volume (BV) were assessed with a modified version of the CO re-breathing technique (Burge. C.M, JAP, 1995) 2 days before donation and 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 56 and 84 days after donation. One way repeated measures ANOVA was used to detect differences between days. Data are reported as mean ± SEM. RESULTS: Shown in Table 1.Table 1CONCLUSIONS: [Hb] and erythrocyte concentration returned to pre-donation levels in 84 days. The tHb-mass required 56 days to fully recover. Our data suggest that [Hb] can be used to predict when tHb-mass is recovered after a standard blood donation. The international recommendations on frequency of blood donation (i.e. donation should be spaced by 3 months; International federation of Blood Donor Organization) pertain also to young healthy-physically active donors.