Haemolysis in red blood cell components is associated with donor ferritin and body mass index status, but not donation frequency

Whole blood donors who donate more frequency are more likely to develop iron deficiency, which could potentially affect the quality of the red blood cell (RBC) components during storage. Additional donor factors such as sex, age at donation, donor body mass index (BMI), as well as the manufacturing method could also affect RBC component quality, particularly haemolysis. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between donation frequency, donor ferritin levels and BMI status on an extensive set of RBC characteristics in vitro, during storage at 2–6 °C for 42 days. A whole blood donation was collected from 787 Australian blood donors, held overnight, before top-and-bottom separation to produce RBC components. RBC components were tested using a panel of in vitro assays. Serum ferritin was tested from a sample taken at the time of donation, and donor demographic data was collected. Haemolysis in RBC components was not found to be associated with donation frequency. Increased red cell haemolysis, lactate concentration, extracellular potassium and RBC-derived microparticle numbers were significantly associated with a high BMI in male donors. There was also a trend towards increased red cell haemolysis in donors with ferritin concentrations in the upper range. Our findings indicate that although older male donors with potentially higher BMI are able to donate whole blood quite frequently, the resultant RBC components may have poorer in vitro quality.