Donor Health Research Articles

Review of blood donor deferral with emphasis on donor and patient safety.

Blood donor deferral is a part and parcel of the commitment of the blood transfusion services to assure the safety and health of the blood donor as well as the recipient. Periodic review of blood donor deferral is to incorporate or revoke deferral reasons based on the evidence generated in the process of review. Therefore, emphasis must be laid on preparing strategies to only judiciously defer blood donors, recruit and retain first time blood donors, which needs critical appraisal of the existing deferral policies, so that the evidence based changes can be done. A retrospective analysis of deferral in blood donors who presented at the blood donation centre of an institute of national importance over a span of nine years (2011-2019). Donors were screened as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Rules 1945 given by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India. There were 1,37,935 donors attempts, out of which 20,167 (14.6%) donors were deferred from donating blood. Most of the deferred donors were male (88.5%), first time (86.1%) and temporarily deferred (87.6%). Almost comparable number of donors (49.1 % & 48.5%) were deferred for donor safety and patient safety reasons respectively. Overall the three most common reasons for deferral were low hemoglobin (21.6%), hypertension (11.4%) and history of jaundice (9%). In donor safety reasons, low hemoglobin (43.4%), hypertension (22.9%) and low blood pressure (4.5%), and in patient safety, a history of jaundice (18.6%), common cold (15.8%), and high-risk behavior (8.8%) emerged as the three most common reasons for deferral respectively. Blood donor deferral is an essential quality indicator of the blood donor selection process. Initiatives like fortification of dietary ingredients with iron, optimizing protein in diet served in schools under mid-day meal program, screening for iron deficiency, hypertension and education about high-risk behavior in schools and colleges may have long term effects of promotion of better health.

Mass spectrometry-based analysis on the impact of whole blood donation on the global plasma proteome.

Biomonitoring may provide important insights into the impact of a whole blood donation for individual blood donors. Here, we used unbiased mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics to assess longitudinal changes in the global plasma proteome, after a single blood donation for new and regular donors. Subsequently, we compared plasma proteomes of 76 male and female whole blood donors, that were grouped based on their ferritin and hemoglobin (Hb) levels. The longitudinal analysis showed limited changes in the plasma proteomes of new and regular donors after a whole blood donation during a 180-day follow-up period, apart from a significant short-term decrease in fibronectin. No differences were observed in the plasma proteomes of donors with high versus low Hb and/or ferritin levels. Plasma proteins with the highest variation between and within donors included pregnancy zone protein, which was associated with sex, Alfa 1-antitrypsin which was associated with the allelic variation, and Immunoglobulin D. Coexpression analysis revealed clustering of proteins that are associated with platelet, red cell, and neutrophil signatures as well as with the complement system and immune responses, including a prominent correlating cluster of immunoglobulin M (IgM), immunoglobulin J chain (JCHAIN), and CD5 antigen-like (CD5L). Overall, our proteomic approach shows that whole blood donation has a limited impact on the plasma proteins measured. Our findings suggest that plasma profiling can be successfully employed to consistently detect proteins and protein complexes that reflect the functionality and integrity of platelets, red blood cells, and immune cells in blood donors and thus highlights its potential use for donor health monitoring.

Who's your daddy? An ethical argument for disclosure to donor conceived children.

To our knowledge, there have been few discussions in the andrology literature regarding the ethics of disclosure to donor conceived children. Our goal in this paper is to summarize the main reasons in favor of disclosure to engender more conversations about the ethics of donor conception in andrology circles. Specifically, we argue (1) transparency regarding gamete donation upholds the ethical principle of beneficence by improving the psychological health of donor conceived children; and (2) based on the ethical principle of autonomy, donor conceived children should have the right to know their donor status.

Research on The Legal Path of Female Egg Donation in China under The Background of Low Fertility Rate

With the fertility rate declining yearly in China, egg donation has become a meaningful way to solve people's infertility and improve fertility. However, more laws and regulations on egg donation behavior norms and constraints must be more relevant. Promoting the legalization of egg donation in China and establishing a standardized national unified egg bank can help infertile parents reproduce through reproductive assistance technology and improve the national fertility level. Through literature review and summary, this paper found that there are ethical and moral risks, lack of reasonable supervision, and the egg donation platform has yet to be fully established in China. Therefore, it is necessary to establish and improve the relevant legal management system of egg banks and carry out more standardized and strict supervision and legal regulations on the specific procedures of egg donation, egg use, egg collection, and egg freezing. The public welfare of voluntary egg donation should be publicized more to reduce the possibility of commercial egg donation and egg freezing. Pay attention to the construction of egg banks, conduct data statistics, prevent the occurrence of inbreeding, protect the privacy of egg donors more comprehensively, and provide encouraging economic compensation to egg donors; Finally, the physical and mental health and safety of egg donors should be guaranteed to reduce the risk of egg donation.

Adverse Reactions and Complication in Voluntary Blood Donors.

Blood transfusion is a process by which blood replacement is performed in the treatment of various diseases with disorders of the number or function of blood cells or after bleeding. Blood helps save human lives and treat various diseases. Blood and blood products for the treatment of patients are prepared from the blood of voluntary donors. The aim of this sudy was to examine the frequency of adverse reactions in voluntary blood donors at the Polyclinic for Transfusion at the University Clinical Center Tuzla in the period 01.01.-31.12.2021. and, also, to determining the frequency, is to determine the severity of adverse reactions and the causes that led to them (gender, age, place of donation, whether they are more common during the first or repeated blood donation) as well as the consequences they leave behind. Our research includes voluntary blood donors who, in the period from 01.01.2021 until 31.12.2021., donated blood at the Polyclinic for Transfusion at the University Clinical Center Tuzla (UCC Tuzla). All donors have been selected according to earlier set criteria, according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the Council of Europe (12,13), involving age (≥18 years), weight (≥55kg), hemoglobin level (≥125g/dl for women, ≥135g/dl for men), hematocrit level (≥38% for women, ≥41g/dl for men), pulse (50-100 /min) and blood pressure (120/80-160/100mmHg). Each donor voluntarily filled out a uniformed questionary that involved data about personal and family history, as well as prior blood donations. In the Polyclinic for Transfusion UCC Tuzla, a study was conducted about adverse reactions among voluntary blood donors. During 2021 there were 14191 blood donors. From that number of donors, there were 75,4% (107000) fitting donors, while those who have been returned because they haven't satisfied donating criteria were 24,6% (3487). From the number of those who have donated blood (10700), negative reactions appeared in 1,8% (195) blood donors. Figure 1 shows adverse reactions in relation to the number of blood donations and gender. When it comes to gender, adverse reactions were recorded in 75,9% (148) male donors and 24,1% (47) female donors concering the total number of donors with adverse reactions. Our research showed that the prevalence of adverse reactions in voluntary blood donors is relatively low (1.8%). The adverse reactions are the result of vasovagal reactions, and most often occur in younger people (18 to 30 years old) in 55.9% of donors. Considering the low percentage of adverse reactions in relation to the total number of blood donors, and that they are mostly mild in intensity, it can be concluded that donating blood is safe process, and doesn't leave lasting consequences for the blood donor's health, and every donor returns to daily activities very quickly.

Adverse Reactions and Complication in Voluntary Blood Donors.

Blood transfusion is a process by which blood replacement is performed in the treatment of various diseases with disorders of the number or function of blood cells or after bleeding. Blood helps save human lives and treat various diseases. Blood and blood products for the treatment of patients are prepared from the blood of voluntary donors. The aim of this sudy was to examine the frequency of adverse reactions in voluntary blood donors at the Polyclinic for Transfusion at the University Clinical Center Tuzla in the period 01.01.-31.12.2021. and, also, to determining the frequency, is to determine the severity of adverse reactions and the causes that led to them (gender, age, place of donation, whether they are more common during the first or repeated blood donation) as well as the consequences they leave behind. Our research includes voluntary blood donors who, in the period from 01.01.2021 until 31.12.2021., donated blood at the Polyclinic for Transfusion at the University Clinical Center Tuzla (UCC Tuzla). All donors have been selected according to earlier set criteria, according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the Council of Europe (12,13), involving age (≥18 years), weight (≥55kg), hemoglobin level (≥125g/dl for women, ≥135g/dl for men), hematocrit level (≥38% for women, ≥41g/dl for men), pulse (50-100 /min) and blood pressure (120/80-160/100mmHg). Each donor voluntarily filled out a uniformed questionary that involved data about personal and family history, as well as prior blood donations. In the Polyclinic for Transfusion UCC Tuzla, a study was conducted about adverse reactions among voluntary blood donors. During 2021 there were 14191 blood donors. From that number of donors, there were 75,4% (107000) fitting donors, while those who have been returned because they haven't satisfied donating criteria were 24,6% (3487). From the number of those who have donated blood (10700), negative reactions appeared in 1,8% (195) blood donors. Figure 1 shows adverse reactions in relation to the number of blood donations and gender. When it comes to gender, adverse reactions were recorded in 75,9% (148) male donors and 24,1% (47) female donors concering the total number of donors with adverse reactions. Our research showed that the prevalence of adverse reactions in voluntary blood donors is relatively low (1.8%). The adverse reactions are the result of vasovagal reactions, and most often occur in younger people (18 to 30 years old) in 55.9% of donors. Considering the low percentage of adverse reactions in relation to the total number of blood donors, and that they are mostly mild in intensity, it can be concluded that donating blood is safe process, and doesn't leave lasting consequences for the blood donor's health, and every donor returns to daily activities very quickly.

Effect of Some Teeth Cleaning Methods on the Microbiological Content of the Oral Cavity

The study was conducted in the period from January to May 2018. The study included the identification of the total account and types of microbial content of the oral cavity during the normal daily practices at different times, which were after waking up, after washing mouth with water (rinsing), after breakfast and after using toothpaste for 33 donors of females and males, smokers and non-smokers, and the ages range were 25-35 years. The results of the study showed that all donor groups showed positive growth during the isolation stages, but there were no significant differences in the growth density of the total count, Enterobacteriaceae and staphylococcus for the donor groups, and the recorded account are not considered to be dangerous to the health of mouth. This is because donor's mouth health was good and smoking period was short. The highest account of bacteria in isolates were seen among smokers after waking up was 74-550 cfu / ml. The study also included the diagnosis of isolated microbial species using VITEK2. The results showed that the isolated bacterial species are Staphylococcus aureus, Lelliottia amnigena, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas luteola, Klebsiella pneumonie, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia which were varied in count, Bacterial resistance was tested for some of the antibiotics that were Doxycycline (DO), Mastiscs (TS), Ceftriaxone (CRO), Tobramycine (TOB), Mastiscs (T), Mastdiscs (T), Gentamicin (CN). The results showed that L. amnigena and S.maltophilia were sensitive to all antibiotics. P. fluorescens were sensitive to antibiotics CN, T, TOB, DO and resistance to antibiotics CRO, TS whereas K.pneumonie was sensitive to all Antibiotics used except the DO antibiotic. The S.aureus bacteria showed resistance to antibiotics CN, TOB, CRO, TS and sensitive to antibiotics T, DO.
 

Donor and non-donor perspectives on receiving information from routine genomic testing of donor blood.

Genomic testing is already used by blood collection agencies (BCAs) to identify rare blood types and ensure the best possible matching of blood. With ongoing technological developments, broader applications, such as the identification of genetic markers relevant to blood donor health, will become feasible. However, the perspectives of blood donors (and potential blood donors) on routine genomic testing of donor blood are under-researched. Eight online Focus Groups were conducted: four with donors and four with non-donors. Participants were presented with three hypothetical scenarios about the current and possible future applications of genomic testing: Performing rare blood type testing; identifying donors with genetic markers associated with iron metabolism; and identifying donors with genetic markers associated with bowel cancer. Testing to identify rare blood types was perceived to be an appropriate application for the BCA to undertake, while identifying markers associated with iron metabolism and cancer genetic markers were only partially supported. Participants raised concerns about the boundaries of acceptable testing and the implications of testing for privacy, data security, and health insurance. Perspectives of donors and non-donors on all scenarios were similar. The principles of who benefits from genomic testing and the perceived role of BCAs were key in shaping participants' perspectives. Participants generally agreed that testing should be directly related to blood donation or be of benefit to the recipient or donor. Findings indicate that consent and communication are key to the acceptability of current and expanded genomic testing.

Analysis and clinical significance of peripheral blood routine changes of platelet donors with ultra-high frequency donation

BackgroundIncreasing platelet donation frequency has become an important way to meet the growing clinical platelet need. Accordingly, the problem of whether the increase in platelet donation times will have an adverse effect on the health of donors has attracted more and more attention, and become an important factor affecting the donor enthusiasm and the safety of blood collection and supply. MethodsEleven ultra-high frequency platelet donors who donated more than or equal to 20 times in 2021 were selected, and the main peripheral blood routine indicators of hemoglobin, platelet and hematocrit were analyzed. ResultsThe above indicators of all donors fluctuated with the increase of donation times. Among them, older donors (≥50 years old) exhibited a significant downward trend in the above three indicators, and one young donor showed a downward trend in hemoglobin and hematocrit indicators. While the other donors showed the relatively stable performance of the above indicators. ConclusionThe effect of ultra-high frequency platelet donation on the main peripheral blood indexes of donors shows obvious age compliance, that is, the potential harm to ultra-high frequency donors older than 50 years is significantly greater than that of donors of other ages. Older platelet donors should be cautious about ultra-high frequency donations to avoid adverse health hazards. Meanwhile, the work will provide technical reference for the more scientific and efficient development of the platelet harvesting work and the establishment of the clinical blood supply system for related patients.

Multi-omics analysis of magnetically levitated plasma biomolecules

We recently discovered that superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) can levitate plasma biomolecules in the magnetic levitation (MagLev) system and cause formation of ellipsoidal biomolecular bands. To better understand the composition of the levitated biomolecules in various bands, we comprehensively characterized them by multi-omics analyses. To probe whether the biomolecular composition of the levitated ellipsoidal bands correlates with the health of plasma donors, we used plasma from individuals who had various types of multiple sclerosis (MS), as a model disease with significant clinical importance. Our findings reveal that, while the composition of proteins does not show much variability, there are significant differences in the lipidome and metabolome profiles of each magnetically levitated ellipsoidal band. By comparing the lipidome and metabolome compositions of various plasma samples, we found that the levitated biomolecular ellipsoidal bands do contain information on the health status of the plasma donors. More specifically, we demonstrate that there are particular lipids and metabolites in various layers of each specific plasma pattern that significantly contribute to the discrimination of different MS subtypes, i.e., relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary-progressive MS (SPMS), and primary-progressive MS (PPMS). These findings will pave the way for utilization of MagLev of biomolecules in biomarker discovery for identification of diseases and discrimination of their subtypes.

Canlı Karaciğer Donörlerinde Yaşam Kalitesinin Değerlendirilmesi

AbstractObjective: In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of transplantation on physical, mental and psychosocial health of donors by evaluating the quality of life of living liver donors after transplantation.Material and Methods: The study was conducted with three groups at Ege University Faculty of Medicine Organ Transplantation and Research Center. 43 living donors from 2017 and 43 living donors from 2007-2016 who underwent liver transplantation were randomly selected to participate in the study. Also 43 control subjects were selected randomly from the community. The study was conducted by a single interviewer between 01.02.2018 and 31.05.2018 by telephone or e-mail. The socio-demographic data questionnaire, Short Form-36 (SF-36) and Hospital Anxiety-Depression Scale (HADS) prepared by the researchers were applied to all participants.Results: The mean age of the participants was 38.04±9.84 years, and of these participants 48.1% (n=62) of them were female. When donors and control group were evaluated in terms of their quality of life, no significant difference was found between physical role, energy (vitality) and mental health subgroups.However, donors have a better quality of life in physical functioning, emotional aspect, social functioning, pain and general health subgroups. It was detected that the quality of life was not affected by age, gender, marital status, educational status, economic status, job loss, comorbidity or disturbance by presence of operational scar. Only sexual problems and the loss of the recipient’s life were observed to have a negative impact on the quality of life. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of anxiety and depression (p<0.05).Conclusion: In our study, it was determined that donors’ quality of life was not adversely affected by transplantation procedure. But it was observed that post-transplant follow-ups had not been performed properly. In addition to independent units that monitor physical, mental, and psychosocial health of living donors who undergo major surgery without any medical need, awareness should be increased to follow the quality of life by family medicine discipline which adopts biopsychosocial approach.

Donor variation in stored platelets: Higher metabolic rates of platelets are associated with mean platelet volume, activation and donor health.

Platelets (PLTs) differ in glycolytic activity, resulting in rapid acidification of 'poor' storing PLT concentrates (PCs) in plasma, or depletion of glucose when stored in PLT additive solution (PAS). We aimed to understand why PLT glycolysis rates vary between donors and how this affects storage performance. Buffy coats from donors <45, 45-70 and >70 years were selected and single-donor PCs in plasma or PAS-E were prepared. PCs were stored for 8 days at 22 ± 2°C and sampled regularly for analysis. Mitochondrial activity was analyzed with an Oroboros oxygraph. Age groups, or subgroups divided into quartiles based on glucose consumption, were analyzed with ANOVA. In each comparison, PCs of the different groups were not different in volume and cellular composition. PLTs with the highest glucose consumption had a higher initial mean platelet volume (MPV) and developed higher CD62P expression and Annexin A5 binding during storage. Higher glycolytic activity in these PLTs was not a compensation for lower mitochondrial ATP production, because mitochondrial ATP-linked respiration of fresh PLTs correlated positively with MPV (R2 = 0.71). Donors of high glucose-consuming PLTs had more health-related issues. Storage properties of PCs from donors over 70 were not significantly different compared to PCs from donors younger than 45 years. High glucose-consuming PCs developing higher activation levels, not only displayed enhanced mitochondrial activity but were also found to contain larger PLTs, as determined by MPV. Storage performance of PLTs was found to be associated with donor health, but not with donor age.

Female Renal Donors: Impact of Donation on Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms and Quality of Life

Introduction: Donating one’s kidney can be a complicated psychological experience. This study was designed to evaluate and compare anxiety, depression and quality of life of married female renal donors during the pre and post donation phase. Methods: In this prospective longitudinal observational study, 39 consecutive female renal donors were assessed using PHQ-9, HAM-A and the WHO QoL-Bref Questionnaire 2 weeks before and 3 months after kidney donation. Results: The mean age of female kidney donors was 41.74 ± 8.85. After donation, prevalence of depression increased from 43.59 % (n = 17) to 53.84 % (n = 21), (t(38) = -2.089, p = 0.04) while prevalence of anxiety in donors increased from 58.97 (n = 23) to 69.23 % (n = 27) and the difference was found to be statistically significant (t(38) = 2.47, p = 0.01). Kidney transplantation resulted in a significant decrease in overall perception score of WHOQOL-Bref Questionnaire. (t(38) = 3.504, p = 0.001), overall perception score of health (t(38) = 3.504, p = 0.001), physical domain (t(38) = 4.180, p = 0.000) and psychological domain (t(38) = 2.469, p = 0.018) after donation. There were no significant changes in the social relationship (t(38) = -0.80, p = 0.936) and environmental health domain scores (t(38) = 0.991, p = 0.328). On multiple regression analysis, presence of pre-transplant depression was independently associated with overall score of WHOQOL-Bref Questionnaire (β = -0.14, p = 0.002), perception of health (β = -0.08, p = 0.001), physical health (β = -1.91, p = 0.08) and psychological health (β = -2.57, p = 0.02). Pre-transplant anxiety was negatively related to overall perception of health (β = -0.08, p = 0.01), physical health (β = -2.05, p = 0.01) and psychological health (β = -1.94, p = 0.02). Conclusion: Significant reduction in quality of life, perception of health, physical health and psychological domain of female renal donors was observed after donation.

Accepting Living Kidney Donors with Preexisting Diabetes Mellitus: A Perspective on the Recent OPTN Policy Change-July 2022.

Accepting Living Kidney Donors with Preexisting Diabetes Mellitus: A Perspective on the Recent OPTN Policy Change-July 2022.

Oocyte Donation: Three Perspectives

Background: A number of important problems remain unresolved in the field of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) using germ cells from a single donor. This study aimed to assess attitudes about the use of sex gamete donation in ART in different social groups including medical workers, oocyte recipients, and oocyte donors.&#x0D; Methods: To achieve this goal, we surveyed 286 participants from seven countries. Of them, 190 were medical workers from ART clinics (respondents from seven countries), 45 were oocyte recipients (Kazakhstan), and 51 were oocyte donors (Kazakhstan).&#x0D; Results: A survey of the three groups showed that issues related to donor health were most common in the donor selection process based on patient and doctor distrust of the health care system. The main motive for oocyte donation was financial compensation, which draws attention to the social disadvantage of the donor population. Medical workers with more than 5 years of work experience (79.7%) supported the use of programs tracking donor sex gametes and limiting the use of oocyte donors.&#x0D; Conclusions: The willingness and consent of the surveyed medical workers and oocyte recipients to use the donor material and create a unified registry of donor sex gametes demonstrates the importance of this issue.

Performance of Marmoset Monkeys as Embryo Donors Is Reflected by Different Stress-Related Parameters.

Non-human primates (NHPs) serve as embryo donors for embryo collection in order to mimic genetic diseases in humans by genetic modification. Reproductive health of the embryo donors is crucial, and chronic distress needs to be avoided. Embryo retrieval rates (ERR), anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations, cortisol levels, and body weight fluctuations were assessed as markers for fertility and distress. With regard to successful embryo retrievals (total n = 667), the animals were either used for extended periods (long-term group; LTG) or only for short periods (short-term group; STG). Retrospective evaluation expectedly showed that animals in the LTG had a higher ERR than animals in the STG (p &lt; 0.0001). Importantly, ERR in the LTG remained stable throughout the experimental period, and high embryo rates were already encountered during the first year of experimental use (p = 0.0002). High ERR were associated with high AMH and low cortisol levels, and minimal body weight fluctuations following anesthesia, indicating a superior ability of the LTG animals to handle distress. We conclude that the long-term experimental use of marmosets does not impair their fertility or health status per se, supporting the view that animal reuse can be in accordance with the 3R-principle, implying reduction, replacement, and refinement in animal experimentation.

244.2: 18-Year Follow-up of Kidney Donation in the Living Donor Transplant Program at a Reference Pediatric Hospital

Introduction: The frequency of living donor transplant has recently increased for several reasons. On one hand, due to the increased prevalence of advanced chronic kidney disease and the decrease in the number of suitable brain-dead donors, and on the other hand, due to the improvement in the safety of the procedure for the donor. Since the primary objective of living-donor kidney transplantation is to guarantee the safety of the donor, the scientific community has recently become interested in the possible long-term complications of kidney donation, since follow-up information on the health of donors is essential for understanding the risks and consequences of donation, support donation selection and provide informed consent. The objective of this study is to evaluate the evolution after nephrectomy of the living donor population in a reference pediatric hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study of the living donor’s outpatient database was carried out from October 2002 to December 2021. All donors who completed donation in this period of time were included. Surgical time, transoperative incidents, hospital stay, post-surgical complications and long-term behavior of creatinine clearance and proteinuria were analyzed. Results: A total of 1332 patients who entered the living donor kidney transplant program were analyzed, 796 completed donation (59.75%) and 43 lost follow-up (5.4%). Of the remaining 753 donors, 409 were women (54.31%) and 344 men (45.68%). A total of 702 patients underwent left nephrectomy (93.22%), 50 right nephrectomy (6.64%), and one patient was suspended before completing surgery (0.13%). The median age at nephrectomy was 37.068 years (r=18-56 yrs). The mean surgical time was 128.77 minutes (r=25-170 min). Among transoperative incidents, 125 pleural and/or peritoneum openings (16.60%), 10 kidney decapsulations (1.32%), 9 tearings of different vessels (1.19%), 1 adrenal vessel avulsion (0.13%), and 1 ureteral injury (0.13%) were described. There was one case of cardiorespiratory arrest in the recovery area. The mean days of hospital stay were 2.64 days (r=1-32 days). Creatinine clearance and proteinuria levels were analyzed during a follow-up period of up to 18 years. 96 patients (12.74%) had a sustained decrease in creatinine clearance and proteinuria (>150 mg/d) was found in 16 patients (2.12%). There were 2 donor deaths, none of theme related to renal failure. Conclusions: Although some increases in urinary protein levels and decreases in creatinine clearance were described, none of our living donors developed kidney failure. Of the 2 reported deaths, one was attributed to colon cancer and the other to alcoholic pancreatitis consequences, none of them related to donation. We can conclude that nephrectomy for donation purposes is a safe procedure since we found no decrease in long-term survival or progressive renal dysfunction.

Iron status of blood donors.

This review examines recent research on the prevalence and importance of iron deficiency in blood donors, and on efforts to mitigate it. Premenopausal females, teenagers, and high-frequency donors are at the highest risk for donation-induced iron deficiency, in both high-resource and low-resource settings. The physiology relating iron stores to hemoglobin levels and low hemoglobin deferral is well elucidated in blood donor populations, yet the clinical effects attributable to iron loss in the absence of anemia are challenging to identify. Expanded adoption of ferritin testing is improving donor management but may cause decreases in the blood supply from temporary donor loss. The potential for personalized donor management is emerging with development of computational models that predict individual interdonation intervals that aim to optimize blood collected from each donor while minimizing low hemoglobin deferrals. Measures to reduce iron deficiency are available that can be deployed on a standardized or, increasingly, personalized basis. Blood centers, regulators, and donors should continue to evaluate different tactics for addressing this problem, to obtain a balanced approach that is optimal for maintaining adequate collections while safeguarding donor health.

Decreased levels of ferritin, mild thrombocytosis, and increased erythropoietin are sequential events among frequent plateletpheresis donors: Implication for a ferritin screen

BackgroundIt is generally recognized that repeat apheresis increases the risk for iron deficiency, thus may impact on the blood homeostasis. With regard to donor vigilance, we clarified the mid- to long-term effects of plateletapheresis by comparing the most frequent donors with the first-time ones in hematological and biochemical tests. MethodsLevels of erythropoietin (EPO), hemoglobin (Hb) and ferritin were analyzed in double-unit (500 mL whole blood or 6 × 1011 apheresis platelets) donations in three male cohorts, with identifiers of first-time whole-blood donors (n = 30), first-time platelet donors transited from maximal whole blood to apheresis (n = 30) and frequent donors subjected to extreme plateletpheresis (n = 90), respectively. According to the number of donations, the last earnest cohort, who donate almost 24 times a year, was further subdivided into three groups– casual (76–120 life-time donations in 5 years), mediocre (121–168 within 7 years) and enthusiastic (≥169 within 7 years and a month). ResultsRegardless of the donation experience in whole blood or plateletpheresis, iron deficiency (serum ferritin concentrations <15 μg/L) was identified in all earnest cohorts. The ferritin means were significantly lower in plateletpheresis groups, with the lowest values in the enthusiastic group. EPO levels showed a significant inverse correlation with ferritin (p = 0.015, r = –0.224). Long-term earnest donors had the lowest iron stores accompanied by a later thrombocytosis and a final increase in EPO was revealed. ConclusionRegular ferritin screens are crucial to ensure a high level of donor health protection.

Protecting blood donor health to meet the patient's needs.

Protecting blood donor health to meet the patient's needs.