Exogenous bacterial contamination of donor blood.

The Canadian Red Cross blood transfusion service has followed a set protocol for phlebotomy and collection of a unit of blood. Recent requirements for automated testing have necessitated that a second tube of blood be obtained from the blood line following collection of the unit. Evaluation of the techniques used, however, has indicated the possibility of bacterial contamination from the skin of donors, from insertion of the needle through an unsterile rubber stopper, and through backflow from a nonsterile vacuum tube. To test these possibilities swabs were taken from skin and stoppers of vacuum tubes. Further, vacuum tubes were deliberately contaminated with Escherichia coli. The normal sampling procedure, which involves stripping the donor line to refill and mix the blood, was then followed. This resulted in contamination of the segments and even the blood bag. These findings led to modification of the standard bleeding technique, whereby stripping was eliminated and sterile vacuum tubes were to be used at all times.     

Stabilization of donor blood with thrombin inhibitors

The content of free calcium ions in stored blood can be maintained by stabilizing it with thrombin inhibitors. With regard to a long-term stabilization of blood or blood plasma, satisfactory results can only be achieved with the competitive synthetic thrombin inhibitor 4-amidinophenylpyruvic acid by adding slight amounts of heparin and by storing it in a cool room. By using hirudin (greater than 50 ATE/ml of blood) the stabilization of blood enables a long-lasting anticoagulative effect to be achieved, such as it is required for the purpose of reprocessing blood to plasma fractions.     

Comparative study of human transcortin isolated from normal donor blood and retroplacental blood

It was demonstrated that the physico-chemical properties of human transcortin, i.e., electrophoretic, hydrodynamic and immunochemical characteristics, amino acid composition, steroid binding parameters, do not depend on the source of the glycoprotein (male or female blood, retroplacental blood). Conversely, the retroplacental blood serum was shown to contain a transcortin form whose carbohydrate component is structurally different from that of the normal donor blood transcortin. It was found that this form interacts with the sites of specific binding of transcortin in liver cell plasma membranes in a weaker degree than the donor blood transcortin.     

Description and evaluation of a canine volunteer blood donor program

Human volunteer blood donor programs are commonplace, but the concept of nonhuman animal blood banking is relatively new. Few studies exist regarding efficacy, donor screening, and safety for volunteer companion animals. This retrospective study evaluated a nonprofit, community-based canine volunteer donor program using community blood drives. Of 98 potential donors, 14 were ineligible to donate, including 4 who tested seropositive for blood-borne pathogens. Of 84 donors, 45 were Dog Erythrocyte Antigen (DEA) 1.1 positive and 39 were DEA1.1 negative. Donations totaling 143 included 29 repeat donors (35%). No serious adverse events occurred. Minor adverse events included acute donor reaction (2.8%), hematoma (4.2%), rebleeding (2.1%), and skin irritation (0.7%). Adverse event rates were comparable to data for human blood donations. A substantial fraction of donors donated multiple times, suggesting that volunteer donors and their guardians perceived the donation process to be safe and effective. This article discusses the issue of donor consent and use of the term volunteer. This study indicates that nonprofit, community-based canine volunteer donor programs for animal blood banks can be successful while maintaining high safety standards and ethical treatment of volunteers.     

Changes in the leukocyte phagocytic activity of donor blood after its UV irradiation. II. Simulation of the effect of the autotransfusion of UV-irradiated blood

The UV-irradiated blood of healthy adults was supplemented with non-irradiated blood in the ratio 1:10. The phagocytic activity (PhA) of monocytes and granulocytes was seen to increase markedly in the whole mixture of blood. In this case the rise of PhA was pronounced 1.4-1.7 times as much as in the case of the non-supplemented, directly UV-irradiated blood. The enhancement of PhA depends on its initial level and may occur simultaneously with structural changes of the cell surface components. It seems reasonable to propose that PhA stimulation may be one of the earliest mechanisms in immunocorrection by UV-irradiated blood therapy.     

Cryoprecipitate of intermediate purity produced in a closed thaw-siphon system from DDAVP stimulated blood donor plasma.

The effects of intravenous administration of DDAVP to blood donors and the use of DDAVP plasma for the production of cryoprecipitate in the closed thaw-siphon system were evaluated. DDAVP treatment produced on the average a 3.2-fold rise in plasma levels of factor VIII. Von Willebrand factor antigen increased to a lesser extent. Cryoprecipitate prepared from 220-280 ml aliquots of DDAVP stimulated donor plasma contained 472 +/- 210 units of factor VIII and 276 +/- 130 units of von Willebrand factor antigen. The average yield of factor VIII was 57% of that in the prefrozen plasma. The specific activity of factor VIII in cryoprecipitate was 0.77 +/- 0.44 U/mg protein, comparable to that for intermediate purity concentrates. Thus, by the use of DDAVP and the thaw-siphon technique it is possible to produce cryoprecipitate 4-7 times as potent as conventionally manufactured preparations.     

Expanded umbilical cord blood T cells used as donor lymphocyte infusions after umbilical cord blood transplantation

BackgroundUmbilical cord blood (UCB) is an alternative graft source for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and has been shown to give results comparable to transplantation with other stem cell sources. Donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) is an effective treatment for relapsed malignancies after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. However, DLI is not available after UCB transplantation.MethodsIn this study, in vitro–cultured T cells from the UCB graft were explored as an alternative to conventional DLI. The main aim was to study the safety of the cultured UCB T cells used as DLI because such cell preparations have not been used in this context previously. We also assessed potential benefits of the treatment.ResultsThe cultured UCB T cells (UCB DLI) were given to 4 patients with mixed chimerism (n = 2), minimal residual disease (n = 1) and graft failure (n = 1). No adverse reactions were seen at transfusion. Three of the patients did not show any signs of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after UCB DLI, but GVHD could not be excluded in the last patient. In the patient with minimal residual disease treated with UCB DLI, the malignant cell clone was detectable shortly before infusion but undetectable at treatment and for 3 months after infusion. In 1 patient with mixed chimerism, the percentage of recipient cells decreased in temporal association with UCB DLI treatment.ConclusionsWe saw no certain adverse effects of treatment with UCB DLI. Events that could indicate possible benefits were seen but with no certain causal association with the treatment.     

Ultrastructure of donor blood lymphocytes incubated with Amanita phalloides poison]

Heparinized donor blood was investigated incubated with Amanita Phalloides poison in the dose of 0.05 and 0.5 LD100 during 1 and 3 hours. Lymphocyte structure changes showed cytoplasma and organoid membrane destabilization, cytoplasma degranulation, appearance of autolysis foci and lysed cells. This destruction became particularly marked with increasing poison dose and infusion time.     

Acquired B antigen and polyagglutination in a apparently healthy blood donor

This work presents the second published report of an apparently healthy adult with an acquired B antigen. This case is unique because of the serial studies documenting the increase in strength of the B antigen, development of polyagglutinability, and absence of detectable gastrointestinal pathology. The cells of G.R., a 56-year-old caucasian female, came to our attention because of weak reactions with anti-B. Her cells were typed as a normal group A one year earlier. G.R.'s cells specifically absorbed and eluted anti-B. Her saliva contained A and H, but no B substance. The red cells were not polyagglutinable. Her cells did not react with the lectin Bandeiraea simplificolia. The cells reacted more strongly with anti-B from group A₂ donors than A₁ donors. Her serum reacted with all normal group B cells, but was nonreactive with two other examples of acquired B cells. The autologous control and direct antiglobulin test were consistently negative. Samples examined three, six, and twelve months later showed the same serological results except that the acquired B antigen was stronger, although weaker than group B controls, and the cells were polyagglutinable. The cells failed to react with the following lectins Bandeiraea simplificolia I, Salvia sclarae, Salvia horminium and Soy bean lectin; but reacted with Arachis hypogea and Bandeiraea simplificolia II. Freezing and thawing the cells removed the polyagglutination but did not affect the B antigen. Normal A₁ cells, but not O cells, became specifically agglutinable by anti-B after incubation with G.R.'s serum. G.R. is free from obvious pathology as determined by physical examination and gastrointestinal X-rays.