Red cells manufactured from lipaemic whole blood donations: Do they have higher haemolysis?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Lipaemia in blood donations is thought to influence haemolysis in stored red blood cell (RBC) components. Higher lipid concentrations are believed to increase red cell fragility, exacerbating haemolysis during collection and subsequent red cell storage. This study aimed to investigate associations between lipoproteins in plasma and haemolysis of red cells stored in saline-adenine-glucose-mannitol (SAGM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-four plasma and matched RBCs were obtained from lipaemic whole blood donations. Plasma was tested for coagulation factors, triglycerides and cholesterol. Haemolysis, glucose, lactate, extracellular potassium, lactate dehydrogenase and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were measured in RBC on Days 7, 21 and 42 of storage. Additionally, 20 plasma and matched RBCs from non-lipaemic donations were tested as controls. RESULTS: Lipaemic plasma had significantly higher triglyceride concentrations compared with non-lipaemic plasma. However, there was no significant difference in plasma cholesterol between the two groups. There were no significant differences in glucose, extracellular potassium or ATP concentrations in RBC from either group. There was no significant difference in haemolysis at expiry in lipaemic-derived and control RBC, with a weak correlation between haemolysis and either triglycerides or cholesterol. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in haemolysis in RBC manufactured from lipaemic and non-lipaemic whole blood donations when stored in SAGM; however, the proportion of RBC from lipaemic donations with higher haemolysis was greater than in the controls. There was a weak correlation between red cell haemolysis and plasma triglycerides. Therefore, RBCs derived from lipaemic donations are suitable for blood bank inventories.