Iron stores in Chinese eligible male plateletpheresis donors

Plateletpheresis donors may become iron deficient, particularly if donating at the maximum suggested interval of every 2 weeks. This study aimed to evaluate iron stores in male Chinese plateletpheresis donors. Serum samples were collected from 445 male plateletpheresis donors and serum ferritin (SF) levels were measured. There were 16 repeat donors (3.6%) with iron deficiency (SF<10 ng/mL), but none was found in first time donors. About 63 (14.2%) had depleted iron stores (SF<30 ng/mL), including two first time donors (0.4%). Repeat donors had lower mean SF levels than the first donors. There was a positive correlation between iron deficiency/depletion prevalence, lower hemoglobin level and number of platelet donations. Donation interval, age and ABO blood groups were not associated with iron status. Iron status needs to be monitored in repeat platepheresis donors and donors with Hb<130 g/L, especially when the number of donations are between 10 and 30. For these individuals, SF measurement and iron supplementation are recommended.     

Analysis of plateletpheresis donor deferral rate in family replacement donors and volunteer donors: A brief review of the China Chongqing area

In order to ensure an adequate and safe blood supply, the plateletpheresis donor deferral rate in family replacement donors and volunteer donors were analyzed in this study. The study was undertaken in Chongqing Blood Center, China. Nucleic acid testing (NAT) and ELISA were applied to assess the hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies against hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Treponema palladium（TP）in plateletpheresis donors. From January 2015 to December 2016, a total of 17,342 plateletpheresis donors in Chongqing blood center were enrolled in this study. Among the 3,642 plateletpheresis donors, 21.00% were younger than 25, followed by 26–35 years group (41.19%), 36-45 years group (22.46%), 46-55 years group (13.97%) and 56-60 years group (1.38%). Replacement and voluntary donors contributed 5,305 (30.59%) and 12,037 (69.41%), respectively. Among all the plateletpheresis donors, 194 (1.12%) were deferred because of seropositive serology. Replacement and voluntary deferred donors comprised 109 (2.05%) and 85 (0.68%), respectively (P＜0.05). Among the deferred donors, 194 (1.12%) were seropositive for HBsAg (0.44%), followed by anti-HCV (0.28%), TP (0.24%) and HIV (0.15%). Prevalence deferred females contributed 67 (1.60%), while males contributed 127 (0.97%) of the deferred cases, respectively (P＜0.05). Deferral rate was highest among 46-55 years group (1.65%) followed by 36-45 years group (1.63%), The other groups were less than 1%. It is necessary to reduce family replacement donors and replace them with regular volunteer donors, and to improve blood donor retention strategies to boost the regular blood donors’ motivating. In addition to increasing and maintaining volunteer supply, it is desirable to keep the deferral rate at a low level, to ensure an adequate and safe blood supply.     

职业献血员中人类T淋巴细胞白血病病毒感染状况的分析

了解陕西,甘肃,青海,宁夏四省区职业献血员中人类T淋巴细胞白血病病毒（HTLV）的感染状况,以便为在职业献血员中开展HTLV普检提供一定的参考依据。采用双抗原夹心ELISA法检测了四省区10个单采浆站的7416份血浆样本。结果 HTLV（1＋2）抗体阳性7例,总阳性率0．09％,其中男性4例,感染率0．09％,女性3例,感染率0．10％;18－25年龄组2例,感染率0．09％,25－35年龄组4例,感染率0．10％,35－45年龄组1例,感染率0．08％。经过分析比较发现,HTLV感染率在职业献血员中与所报道的正常人群的感染率无显著差异,同时发现,在职业献血员中,HTLV感染的阳性率无性别差异,无年龄差异。     

Prevalence of low positive anti-HCV antibodies in blood donors: Schistosoma mansoni co-infection and possible role of autoantibodies

Patients infected with schistosoma frequently show a high seroprevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) antibodies. The aim of this study was to find the underlying reason for this phenomenon, and to examine a possible involvement of autoantibodies. Out of 2,400 Egyptian blood donors, 192 (8%) were anti-HCV positive by ELISA. They were 133 males and 59 females with age ranging from 27 to 48 years. According to optical density ratio (ODR) of anti-HCV antibodies, 96 cases were low positive (LP) with ODR (1-2) designated as group I, and 96 were high positive (HP) with ODR (> or =2) (group II). Both groups were examined for quantitative HCV core antigen (HCVcAg), liver function (Albumin, ALT, AST) and anti-Schistosoma mansoni(anti-Sm) IgG. Group I cases were HCVcAg negative with normal liver function tests, and 44 of them were anti-Sm positive. Ninety cases (93.75%) of group II were HCVcAg positive with markedly affected liver function tests and 72 cases were anti-Sm positive. All group I cases were examined for autoimmune markers (ANA, AMA, SMA and LKM). In group I, 33 (75%) of anti-Sm positive cases were positive for one or more of the autoimmune markers examined, while none of anti-Sm negative was positive for any marker with significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.0001). Our results primarily on blood donors indicate that LP anti-HCV frequently represents false-positive reactivity with a possible role of Sm-induced autoantibodies in this phenomenon.     

Metabolic signature associated with parameters of the complete blood count in apparently healthy individuals

Metabolomics studies now approach large sample sizes and the health characterization of the study population often include complete blood count (CBC) results. Upon careful interpretation the CBC aids diagnosis and provides insight into the health status of the patient within a clinical setting. Uncovering metabolic signatures associated with parameters of the CBC in apparently healthy individuals may facilitate interpretation of metabolomics studies in general and related to diseases. For this purpose 879 subjects from the population‐based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP)‐TREND were included. Using metabolomics data resulting from mass‐spectrometry based measurements in plasma samples associations of specific CBC parameters with metabolites were determined by linear regression models. In total, 118 metabolites significantly associated with at least one of the CBC parameters. Strongest associations were observed with metabolites of heme degradation and energy production/consumption. Inverse association seen with mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin comprised metabolites potentially related to kidney function. The presently identified metabolic signatures are likely derived from the general function and formation/elimination of blood cells. The wealth of associated metabolites strongly argues to consider CBC in the interpretation of metabolomics studies, in particular if mutual effects on those parameters by the disease of interest are known.     

Epidemiology of typhoid carriers among blood donors and patients with biliary, gastrointestinal and other related diseases

Enteric fever due to Salmonella Typhi is a major public health problem. Typhoid carriers have high titres of Vi agglutinins in their sera. We worked out the baseline data for Vi agglutinins from 705 healthy blood donors (controls) by ELISA and compared it with 446 patients with biliary, gastrointestinal and other related diseases (cases). The samples were divided into five groups based on the disease condition of the patients from whom they were collected. Group A (n=196) consisted of patients with stones in the gall bladder/common bile duct and Group B (n=27) with gall bladder carcinoma. Group C (n=33) comprised patients with carcinoma of the pancreas/ampulla, obstructive jaundice and/or cholangiocarcinoma. Group D (n=112) had patients with acute/chronic pancreatitis, abdominal pain, intestinal obstruction, peritonitis, carcinoma oesophagus, chronic diarrhoea, gastrointestinal bleeding and dyspepsia. Group E (n=78) included patients with miscellaneous diseases. The mean absorbance value obtained for healthy subjects +3 standard deviations was taken as the cut-off value for a positive typhoid carrier. In Group A, 10.2% samples were positive; in Group B, 7.4%; in Group C, 12.0%; in Group D, 9.8% and in Group E, 9.0%. There was a highly significant (P <0.001) increase in the presence of Vi agglutinins in the cases compared to the controls. High prevalence of typhoid carriers occurs in patients with biliary, gastrointestinal and other related diseases. Vi serology employing highly purified Vi antigen offers a practical and cost-effective way of screening for S. Typhi carriers.     

Identification of HCV genotypes in HCV infected blood donors

HCV infection is a leading cause of chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis of the liver. There are at least six major genotypes and more than 50 subtypes of HCV. The prevalence and distribution of HCV genotypes depend on geographical location. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the HCV genotypes in HCV infected blood donors and patients. In this cross-sectional study, 167 serum samples from 103 blood donors and 64 patients with hepatitis C were investigated for HCV genotypes. HCV genotyping was carried out using type-specific primers from the core region of the viral genome. The highest frequency was for genotype 1a, with 53 and 34 (51.5% versus 53.1%) of subjects in blood donors and patients respectively. Genotype 3a and 1b were the other frequent genotypes with 4 and 16 (3.9% versus 25%) and 39 and 10 (37.9% versus 15.6%) subjects, respectively. There was not any statistical significant association between the place of infection of the patients and genotype. The results of this study indicate that the distribution of genotypes in the two populations was similar. The dominant HCV genotypes between blood donors and patients were 1a, 3a and 1b respectively.     

寒冷刺激对部分睡眠剥夺小鼠血细胞参数的影响

目的：探讨寒冷刺激,部分睡眠剥夺,以及部分睡眠剥夺的基础上再给予寒冷刺激等处理对小鼠血细胞参数的影响。方法：昆明小鼠24只,随机均分为4组（n=6）：对照组、寒冷组、不完全睡眠剥夺组和不完全睡眠剥夺加寒冷组。寒冷组每天给予（10±2）℃的低温处理4h,不完全睡眠剥夺组每天18：00至次日9：00剥夺睡眠,不完全睡眠剥夺加寒冷组在每天睡眠剥夺的基础上再给予4h寒冷刺激。连续处理4d后采血检测血常规和血沉率。结果：与对照组相比,寒冷刺激可使小鼠血液中淋巴细胞含量（P〈0．05）以及百分比（P〈0．01）显著增加;部分睡眠剥夺可使小鼠血液白细胞和淋巴细胞含量（P〈0．05）及百分比（P〈0．01）明显降低。不完全睡眠剥夺加寒冷刺激处理后与其它三组相比小鼠血液白细胞和淋巴细胞含量显著降低（P〈0．01）,而血沉率则显著升高（P〈0．01）。结论：部分睡眠剥夺会抑制机体免疫能力,在部分剥夺睡眠的基础上再给予寒冷刺激则将进一步抑制机体免疫能力并使血沉率加快,降低机体对外界环境变化的适应能力。     

Plasma selenium status in a group of Australian blood donors and fresh blood components

The purpose of this study was to assess plasma selenium levels in an Australian blood donor population and measure extra-cellular selenium levels in fresh manufactured blood components. Selenium levels were measured using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction. The mean plasma selenium level in healthy plasmapharesis donors was 85.6 ± 0.5 μg/L and a regional difference was observed between donors in South East Queensland and Far North Queensland. Although participants had selenium levels within the normal range (55.3–110.5 μg/L), 88.5% had levels below 100 μg/L, a level that has been associated with sub-optimal activity of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Extra-cellular selenium levels in clinical fresh frozen plasma (cFFP) and apheresis-derived platelets (APH Plt) were within the normal range. Packed red blood cells (PRBC) and pooled buffy coat-derived platelets (BC Plt) had levels at the lower limit of detection, which may have clinical implications to the massively transfused patient.     

职业献血员中庚型肝炎病毒感染状况的分析

为了解职业献血员中庚型肝炎病毒（HGV）的感染状况,应用ELISA法和RT-PCR法进行检测,在10069名职业献血员中有516例抗-HGV阳性,总感染率为5.12%,其中男性感染率5.79%。女性感染率4.45%,甘肃省感染率4.96%,宁夏区感染率5.70%,青海感染率5.67%以及陕西感染率4.91%,年龄18-25岁的感染率4.48%,26-35岁感染率4.87%;36-45岁感染率6.90%;将抗-HGV阳性作RT-PCR,HBsAg,抗HCV检测,其中HGV-RNA阳性362例,HBsAg阳性25例,抗HCV阳性37例,HBsAg和抗-HCV阳性8例,以上说明,在职业献血员中,HGV的感染与性别,地域及年龄无关,与HBV,HCV有重叠感染现象。     

Hepatitis A virus and hepatitis E virus prevalence relates to human immunodeficiency virus infection in Japanese male blood donors

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) has begun to spread globally among men who have sex with men (MSM). Hepatitis E virus (HEV) also may be transmitted through sexual contact among MSM. To assess the current status of these viruses among MSM in Japan, the seroprevalence of both viruses using 503 plasma samples collected between 2009 and 2018 from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive male donors who were presumed to be mainly MSM was investigated. Our results suggested that HAV may be spreading within this population, as reported elsewhere. By contrast, the spread of HEV was confirmed only among younger HIV-positive donors.     

Serosurvey for SARS-CoV-2 among blood donors in Wuhan,China from September to December 2019

The emerging of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused COVID-19 pandemic. The first case of COVID-19 was reported at early December in 2019 in Wuhan City, China. To examine specific antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in biological samples before December 2019 would give clues when the epidemic of SARS-CoV-2 might start to circulate in populations. We obtained all 88,517 plasmas from 76,844 blood donors in Wuhan between 1 September and 31 December 2019. We first evaluated the pan-immunoglobin (pan-Ig) against SARS-CoV-2 in 43,850 samples from 32,484 blood donors with suitable sample quality and enough volume. Two hundred and sixty-four samples from 213 donors were pan-Ig reactive, then further tested IgG and IgM, and validated by neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Two hundred and thirteen samples (from 175 donors) were only pan-Ig reactive, 8 (from 4 donors) were pan-Ig and IgG reactive, and 43 (from 34 donors) were pan-Ig and IgM reactive. Microneutralization assay showed all negative results. In addition, 213 screened reactive donors were analyzed and did not show obviously temporal or regional tendency, but the distribution of age showed a difference compared with all tested donors. Then we reviewed SARS-CoV-2 antibody results from these donors who donated several times from September 2019 to June 2020, partly tested in a previous published study, no one was found a significant increase in S/CO of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Our findings showed no SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies existing among blood donors in Wuhan, China before 2020, indicating no evidence of transmission of COVID-19 before December 2019 in Wuhan, China.     

Molecular analysis of homeostatic iron regulator,transmembrane protease serine-6, and BTB domain-containing protein-9 variants and iron parameters in blood donors

Genetic variants associated with iron homeostasis have been identified, but their association with iron-related indices and variables among different ethnic populations remains controversial. We aimed to explore the genotype frequency and allelic distribution of three iron-metabolism related variants in homeostatic iron regulator gene (HFE; rs1800562 G/A), transmembrane protease, Serine-6 gene (TMPRSS6; rs855791 A/G), and BTB domain-containing protein-9 gene (BTBD9; rs9357271 C/T) among a sample of the Middle Eastern blood donors and to detect the association of these variants on blood indices, and serum hepcidin/ferritin levels. Real-Time TaqMan genotyping assay for the specified variants was applied for 197 unrelated blood donors. Complete blood picture and serum hepcidin/ferritin levels were assessed. All participants were carriers of rs1800562*G/G genotype for HFE. The frequency of A/A and A/G genotypes of TMPRSS6 rs855791 variant was 55% and 45%, and for C/C, C/T, and T/T of BTBD9 rs9357271, were 15%, 43%, and 42%, respectively. Minor allele frequencies of rs855791*G and rs9357271*C were 0.23 and 0.37. The GGC genotype combination (for HFE/TMPRSS6/BTBD9, respectively) was more frequent in male participants. Higher serum hepcidin and hepcidin/ferritin ratio were observed in TMPRSS6 (A/G) carriers. While subjects with BTBD9 C/T and TT genotypes had lower serum ferritin values and higher levels of hepcidin and hepcidin/ferritin ratio compared with C/C genotype. No significant associations were found with any other blood parameters.In conclusion, TMPRSS6 rs855791 (A/G) and BTBD9 rs9357271 (C/T) variants were prevalent in the present blood donor population and may influence the serum hepcidin and/or ferritin levels.     

Plasma selenium levels in healthy blood bank donors in the central-eastern part of Belgium

Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, with Zeeman background correction and after improved matrix modification, was used to measure the plasma selenium content of healthy blood bank donors in the central part of Belgium.

The mean plasma selenium concentration of 80 men and 80 women was 79.7±4.4 ng/mL with a range of 55.0–117.4 ng/mL.

There was no gender difference observed. Plasma selenium level was significantly highest for the adult group, aged 45–64 years, compared to the others, except the young adults (18–24 years).

The mean plasma selenium concentration measured corresponded well with literature data for Belgium. The obtained values were found to be in the medium range, compared with recent literature values for the European countries.     

The statistical analysis of the differential blood count

The differential blood count obtained by unbiased sampling mathematically follows a multinomial distribution. The variation between individuals can be formalized by a mixing distribution of the parameters of the multinomial distribution. By DIRICHLET-distributions used as mixing distributions the main phenomena of the observed data can be described, and they are useful in estimating and testing treatment effects. If the correlation between the different types of leucocytes is taken into account in an appropriate manner, univariate test procedures can be applied also.     

雏鸭试验感染鸭肝炎病毒后血液常规指标的测定

用Ⅰ型鸭肝炎病毒标准强毒R85952株人工感染3日龄雏鸭,通过采集不同时期的血液进行细胞计数、血沉测定、血红蛋白测定等血常规检查。结果表明,感染DHV的试验组鸭的红细胞数量较对照组极显著减少(P<0 01);试验组鸭在感染DHV24h内白细胞数量与对照组相比无明显差异或略有下降,但24h后试验组鸭白细胞数量较对照组显著减少(P<0 05);试验组鸭的血红蛋白含量极显著低于对照组(P<0 01);试验组鸭的血液沉降速度极显著高于对照组(P<0 01)。     

Mobilization and engraftment of peripheral blood stem cells in healthy related donors >55 years old

Background aimsThe increasing scarcity of young related donors has led to the use of older donors for related allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This study analyzed the influence of age on the results of mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) in healthy donors as well as on the engraftment and outcome of HSCT.MethodsA retrospective analysis from a single center was performed comparing the results of PBSC mobilization from related healthy donors according to their age.ResultsThe study included 133 consecutive related donors. The median age was 50 years (range, 4–77 years); 70 (53%) donors were males, and 44 (33%) were >55 years old. All donors were mobilized with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for 5 days. The peak CD34⁺ cell count in peripheral blood was higher in younger than in older donors (median, 90.5 CD34⁺ cells/μL [range, 18–240 CD34⁺ cells/μL] versus 72 CD34⁺ cells/μL [range, 20–172.5 CD34⁺ cells/μL], P = 0.008). The volume processed was lower in younger than in older donors (16,131 mL [range, 4424–36,906 mL] versus 18,653 mL [range, 10,003–26,261 mL], P = 0.002) with similar CD34⁺ cells collected (579.3 × 10⁶ cells [range, 135.14 × 10⁶–1557.24 × 10⁶ cells] versus 513.69 × 10⁶ cells [range, 149.81 × 10⁶–1290 × 10⁶ cells], P = 0.844). There were no differences in time to recovery of neutrophils and platelets or in the incidences of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease, overall survival, non-relapse mortality and relapse incidence.ConclusionsDonors >55 years old mobilized fewer CD34⁺ cells and required a greater volume to collect a similar number of CD34⁺ cells. The outcome of HSCT was not influenced by donor age. Donor age should not be a limitation for related allogeneic HSCT.