Immunoglobulin M anti-A and anti-B titers in South Texas group O D+ male donors.

BACKGROUND

The success of whole blood (WB) in damage control resuscitation on the battlefield has generated interest in its use for civilian trauma. Blood centers must maintain a committed donor pool with low isoagglutinin titers to provide this product. Information regarding isoagglutinin titers in different donor populations will help with targeted recruitment of these donors.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Sequential O D+ male donors with a history of two or more donations at a fixed site were tested for immunoglobulin (Ig)M anti-A and anti-B using a single titer cutoff of 256. Donors testing negative at this cutoff were considered "low titer" while positive donors were considered "high titer." Age and self-identified race/ethnicity were retrospectively obtained from the blood establishment computer system. Fisher's exact analysis was used for statistical analysis with a p value of less than 0.05 considered significant.

RESULTS

Of 3274 donors, 426 tested as high titer, while 2848 tested as low titer. The data show an association of donor age and prevalence of high titers with older age groups showing a lower prevalence of high titers. In addition, different races/ethnicities have different prevalences of high titers with the Caucasian/white group showing a lower prevalence of high-titer donors versus the Hispanic and undeclared race groups.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of high-titer IgM anti-A or -B donors varies by age group and race/ethnicity in our data set. This information will provide information on what donor groups to target for collection of low-titer O WB.