Analysis of inflammatory markers in the red cell concentrates of borderline diabetic blood donors

Abstract

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterised by insulin resistance and hyperglycaemia. The elevated cytokine levels in T2DM individuals have led T2DM to be recognised as an inflammatory condition. Moreover, studies have identified storage lesions that occur in blood components intended for transfusion purposes to result in the accumulation and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The storage-induced release of cytokines has been linked to a variety of transfusion reactions and immunomodulation effects. This raises the need to assess the clinical implications of transfusing blood products, especially red cell concentrates (RCCs), from donors with underlying inflammatory conditions to patients with an impaired immune system or pronounced baseline level of inflammation. The aim of this study was to compare the levels of Interleukin-1 (IL-1) beta, Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF)-alpha in blood donors with prediabetes or T2DM and in those without diabetes to the levels detected in overstored RCCs via Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs). However, due to limitations identified during the study with respect to the sample sizes of the diabetic status categories it was concluded that the original aim of the study could not be achieved. Therefore, a new approach was adopted to determine if sex or age play a role in cytokine levels in blood donors without diabetes so as to set the groundwork for future studies. The results indicate that no significant differences were identified in the levels of IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha when comparing by sex or age. Having said that, the results should be interpreted with caution due to the limited sample sizes investigated. Despite there being no significant differences, potential trends in line with other studies were identified. Hence, future studies striving to reach the original aim of the study are recommended to take potential age and sex-driven differences into account.