Thread by @TransfusionWM

This January @NHSBT are focussing on recruiting more male donors but why are men so important as blood donors? Which components are specifically made from donations from men and why? @bloodmed challenged me to a tweetorial on this topic, so here it is!

@NHSBT @bloodmed 2/ There are a number of differences between men and women (we’ll focus on those having a direct influence on blood donation here!);

@NHSBT @bloodmed 3/ Men can’t be pregnant. This means they are not at risk of making human leucocyte antibodies, unless they have been transfused; anyone who has had a transfusion since 1980 cannot donate blood in the UK transfusionguidelines.org/dsg/wb/guideli…

@NHSBT @bloodmed 4/ 1-14% women have HLA abs after their 1st pregnancy, 20-50% multiparous women have HLA abs (rates vary according to the type of test used). #haemSpRs should bear this in mind when requesting HLA ab testing in the setting of platelet refractoriness... karger.com/Article/FullTe…

@NHSBT @bloodmed 5/ Next question: What transfusion reactions are caused by donor HLA antibodies?

@NHSBT @bloodmed 6/ HLA antibodies are implicated in TRALI and FNHTR. HLA antibodies are found in plasma, so to reduce the risk of HLA antibodies being present in blood components, @NHSBT only provide plasma donated by men.

@NHSBT @bloodmed 7/ Imported plasma is from men or HLA-tested women. Plasma from men is used to suspend pooled components such as platelets and granulocytes. Apheresis platelets are taken from men, or women who do not have HLA antibodies.

@NHSBT @bloodmed 8/ Since using male-only plasma and cryo for transfusion, the incidence of TRALI has reduced from to 15.5 per million units of FFP to 3.2 per million.

@NHSBT @bloodmed 9/ Plasma is the most commonly known component to be made from males, but are male donations useful for anything else?

@NHSBT @bloodmed 10/ Men have higher iron stores than women (as they do not menstruate) so they can donate red cells more often than women (every 12 vs 16 weeks).

@NHSBT @bloodmed 11/ Men tend to have a larger circulating blood volumes. This means they are more likely to be able to be an apheresis platelet donor. Check out the donor eligibility for platelet donation here platelets.blood.co.uk/pdf/PD_eligibi…

@NHSBT @bloodmed 12/ Finally, red cells for intrauterine transfusion are from male donors, as are red cells for neonatal exchange and for large volume transfusions and for neonates and infants. Details of the requirements for all NHSBT components can be found here nhsbtdbe.blob.core.windows.net/umbraco-assets…

@NHSBT @bloodmed 13/ Last year, for every 100 women who started donating, only 70 men started donating. Currently, only 43% of donors in England are male. If more of our regular donors were men this would help to ensure a safe and secure blood
supply now and in the future.

@NHSBT @bloodmed 14/ Blood and more importantly plasma from male donors has many uses. How many of them did the #haemSpRs get? #blooducation @PBM_NHS

@NHSBT @bloodmed 12a/ It's been brought to my attention that I linked to a previous version of the Portfolio; IUT blood is *ideally* from male donors. Thanks to those that flagged up my error! #blooducation
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