Iron Deficiency In Blood Donors Research Articles

Low ferritin levels indicate the need for iron supplementation: strategy to minimize iron-depletion in regular blood donors.

Iron deficiency is a common problem in regular blood donors which can be prevented by timely iron supplementation. Consequently, these donors should be supplied with oral iron in good time. We evaluated the need to use ferritin rather than or in addition to haemoglobin to screen iron deficiency in blood donors. To this end, serum ferritin was measured routinely every 10th donation in 632 long-term and 171 first-time donors. Furthermore, donors with ferritin < 15 microg L-1 were supplemented with iron. The supplementation efficiency was assessed by follow-up haemoglobin levels over the course of five donations in blood donors with high donation frequency. Our results showed that ferritin decreases after 10 donations and with the increase of donation frequency. In 26% of regular donors, ferritin levels were < 15 microg L-1 and 12% of them were anaemic due to low haemoglobin. After iron supplementation, haemoglobin was raised rapidly in donors with initially low haemoglobin, and thus donor deferment was never indicated. In conclusion, regular ferritin measurement is a useful indicator for iron depletion in blood donors. Our data suggested the usefulness of ferritin screening in first-time donors and regular donors with low haemoglobin levels within the normal range.

Washing Erythrocytes to Remove Interferents in Measurements of Zinc Protoporphyrin by Front-Face Hematofluorometry

Zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) is determined by hematofluorometry of whole blood to detect iron deficiency in blood donors. In hospitalized patients, ZPP did not correlate with established markers of iron status. We performed 4500 ZPP measurements with the Aviv front-face hematofluorometer in samples from 475 patients and measured ferritin, transferrin saturation, hemoglobin, and erythrocyte indices. We found that the fluorometric determination is affected by substances dissolved in plasma but that this interference can be eliminated by using washed erythrocytes. In validation tests the within-day variation was < 3.5%; the day-to-day variation was < 6.8%. In 130 healthy persons without iron deficiency, ZPP was < or = 40 mumol/mol heme, which we consider a normal value. Mean ZPP in 46 iron-deficient patients was 256 (SD 105) mumol/mol heme (correlation with ferritin: -0.73; with hemoglobin: -0.85; P < 0.001). When washed erythrocytes are used, the hematofluorometric determination of ZPP is sensitive and specific for detecting iron deficiency in otherwise healthy individuals and hospitalized patients.

Iron stores in remunerated blood donors as evaluated by plasma ferritin levels.

This study was undertaken to investigate body iron stores in so-called remunerated blood donors as well as to evaluate the sensitivity of hemoglobin determination in detecting iron deficiency in two populations of blood donors. The authors studied 522 male donors who were divided into three groups: Group I, first-time volunteer donors with hemoglobin levels greater than or equal to 13 g per dl; Group II, remunerated donors with hemoglobin levels greater than or equal to 13 g per dl; and Group III, remunerated donors rejected because their hemoglobin levels were less than 13 g per dl. Iron stores were evaluated with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for plasma ferritin. In Group I, 4.5 percent were iron-deficient with a mean ferritin value of 55.3 ng per ml; in Group II, 59.7 percent were iron deficient with a mean ferritin level of 17.4 ng per ml, and in Group III, 82.5 percent were iron-deficient and the mean ferritin level was 8.4 ng per ml. The last values represent the highest percentage of iron deficiency and the lowest mean ferritin value thus far reported. In Group I, hemoglobin determination had a sensitivity of 95 percent in detecting iron deficiency, but in Group II had only 40 percent sensitivity. These results indicate that a more accurate and reliable test, such as a plasma or serum ferritin determination, may be necessary to detect iron deficiency in blood donors when they donate more than five times per year, particularly those who are remunerated.

Which measures should be taken in order to prevent iron deficiency in blood donors?

Which measures should be taken in order to prevent iron deficiency in blood donors?

Which Measures Should Be Taken in order to Prevent Iron Deficiency in Blood Donors?

Which Measures Should Be Taken in order to Prevent Iron Deficiency in Blood Donors?