Recovery and safety profiles of marrow and PBSC donors: experience of the National Marrow Donor Program.

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) has been facilitating hematopoietic cell transplants since 1987. Volunteer donors listed on the NMDP Registry may be asked to donate either bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC); however, since 2003, the majority of donors (72% in 2007) have been asked to donate PBSC. From the donor's perspective these stem cell sources carry different recovery and safety profiles. The majority of BM and PBSC donors experienced symptoms during the course of their donation experience. Pain is the number 1 symptom for both groups of donors. BM donors most often reported pain at the collection site (82% back or hip pain) and anesthesia-related pain sites (33% throat pain; 17% post-anesthesia headache), whereas PBSC donors most often reported bone pain (97%) at various sites during filgrastim administration. Fatigue was the second most reported symptom by both BM and PBSC donors (59% and 70%, respectively). PBSC donors reported a median time to recovery of 1 week compared to a median time to recovery of 3 weeks for BM donors. Both BM and PBSC donors experienced transient changes in their WBC, platelet, and hemoglobin counts during the donation process, with most counts returning to baseline values by 1 month post-donation and beyond. Serious adverse events are uncommon, but these events occurred more often in BM donors than PBSC donors (1.34% in BM donors, 0.6% in PBSC donors) and a few BM donors may have long-term complications. NMDP donors are currently participating in a randomized clinical trial that will formally compare the clinical and quality-of-life outcomes of BM and PBSC donors and their graft recipients.

Decline in perfluorooctanesulfonate and other polyfluoroalkyl chemicals in American Red Cross adult blood donors, 2000-2006.

In 2000, 3M Company, the primary global manufacturer, announced a phase-out of perfluorooctanesulfonyl fluoride (POSF, C8F17SO2F)-based materials after perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS, C8F17SO3-) was reported in human populations and wildlife. The purpose of this study was to determine whether PFOS and other polyfluoroalkyl concentrations in plasma samples, collected in 2006 from six American Red Cross adult blood donor centers, have declined compared to nonpaired serum samples from the same locations in 2000-2001. For each location, 100 samples were obtained evenly distributed by age (20-69 years) and sex. Analytes measured, using tandem mass spectrometry, were PFOS, perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS), N-methyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetate (Me-PFOSA-AcOH), and N-ethyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetate (Et-PFOSA-AcOH). The geometric mean plasma concentrations were for PFOS 14.5 ng/mL (95% CI 13.9-15.2), PFOA 3.4 ng/ mL (95% CI 3.3-3.6), and PFHxS 1.5 ng/mL (95% CI 1.4-1.6). The majority of PFBS, Me-PFOSA-AcOH, and Et-PFOSA-AcOH concentrations were less than the lower limit of quantitation. Age- and sex-adjusted geometric means were lower in 2006 (approximately 60% for PFOS, 25% for PFOA, and 30% for PFHxS) than those in 2000-2001. The declines for PFOS and PFHxS are consistent with their serum elimination half-lives and the time since the phase-out of POSF-based materials. The shorter serum elimination half-life for PFOA and its smaller percentage decline than PFOS suggests PFOA concentrations measured in the general population are unlikely to be solely attributed to POSF-based materials. Direct and indirect exposure sources of PFOA could include historic and ongoing electrochemical cell fluorination (ECF) of PFOA, telomer production of PFOA, fluorotelomer-based precursors, and other fluoropoly-mer production.