فصلنامه خون
سال بیستم شماره 1 (پیاپی 79، بهار 1402)

Considering the lower-than-expected participation of women in donating blood, it is necessary to encourage them to do so. In this regard, the preparation of appropriate and effective trainings requires the identification of effective factors in women blood donation. This study has investigated the relationship between the constructs of the theory of planned behavior and injection anxiety in female students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted with the participation of female students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2022. Six hundred and twenty-three students were selected by stratified multi-stage quota sampling method and the data related to the constructs of the theory of planned behavior and trypanophobia were collected through an electronic questionnaire with SPSS/20 software and coefficient tests. Pearson correlation and linear regression were used for data analysis.

The results showed that 114 female students (18.3%) had a history of donating blood. There was a direct relationship between the constructs of awareness, mental norms, perceived behavioral control and attitude with the intention to donate blood; injection anxiety had an inverse relationship with the intention to donate blood (p ≤ 0.001).

The theory of planned behavior can be a suitable model for conducting interventions to encourage women to donate blood; on the other hand, using different educational programs to reduce injection anxiety and treat anemia in women in order to increase blood donation seem necessary.

Alloimmunization is caused by exposure of B lymphocytes to foreign antigens following incompatible blood transfusions and is associated with many hemolytic complications. One of the ways to detect blood group antigens is monoclonal antibodies. The aim of the present study is transforming of alloimmunized cells against KELL antigen in thalassemia patients by EBV-Transformation method and to produce lymphoblastoid cell line producing anti-KELL antibody.

In an experimental study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 10 thalassemia patients immunized against KELL antigen were isolated by ficoll hypaque method and exposed to EBV-containing supernatant of B95-8 cell line for 4 hours. After one to three weeks, the production of antibody-producing lymphoblastoid clones and the specificity of the antibody were examined by microscopic observation and microhemagglutination method, respectively.

The results showed that exposure of PBMCs of thalassemia patients immunized against KELL antigen with EBV viral soup caused the formation of lymphoblastoid clones. Examination of the supernatant of culture of produced clones showed that the antibody produced by these cells were able to identify red blood cells containing KELL antigen and agglutinate them by micro hemagglutination test.

Based on the findings, there is a possibility of PBMC transformation in thalassemia patients immunized against KELL antigen and antibody production.

Patient blood management is an evidence-based medical and surgical concept in order to achieve a better clinical outcome for patients. The first step in the establishment of patient blood management is its training. The purpose of this research is to investigate face-to-face and virtual educational methods for the establishment of patient blood management.

In 2016, a prospective study was designed to implement "patient blood management" in Shahid Lavasani Hospital. The hospital staff were randomly selected from three groups of doctors, nurses and laboratory staff to enter one of the virtual and face-to-face training groups. The training focused on the principles of "patient blood management", substitutes for blood products and restrictive blood transfusion. After completing the course, both groups participated in a uniform exam. One-way Annova, chi-square, and paired t-test were used for comparison. We used SPSS version 23 software for analysis.

The average score of people in the face-to-face course was 90.7 ± 10.1 (64-100) and in the virtual course 90.8 ± 10.6 (58-100). There was no significant difference in the average scores of participants in the face-to-face and distance training (p = 0.9). Neither was there any relation between work experience (p= 0.9) and years of education (p = 0.1).

The knowledge gained in the participants of this study did not show a significant difference between the two virtual and face-to-face groups. In order to implement "patient blood management" in hospitals across the country, face-to-face and virtual trainings can be used.

One of the antigens of the blood group is Duffy, which includes different subtypes. This system is of clinical importance in terms of blood transfusion, so accurate identification of this antigen is very important. In this study, the process of solubilization of red blood RBC membrane and purification of the Duffy antigen, were investigated.

In this experimental study, packed RBCs (O- and Fya+) were obtained from the blood donation center of Tehran province. The membranes of RBCs were solubilized using Nonidet P-40 detergent. In the next step, Fya antigen was purified by affinity chromatography method using a specific antibody against this antigen. The specificity of the purified protein was tested by ELISA technique.

The Fya+ characteristic of red blood cells of the RBC bag was confirmed. In addition, the specificity of the antigen was confirmed by ELISA method. The absorbance levels of the purified antigen (OD450nm) in ELISA method were 1.056 ± 0.137 and 0.197 ± 0.016 by employing the Fya and Fyb antibodies, respectively.

The present research showed that red blood cell membrane solubilization can be done to purify Fy antigen and this antigen may be used in various fields including immunization and antibody production.

The preventive maintenance management system plays an effective role in preventing defects, increasing the safety of equipment and users, and reducing cost of operating systems. In this study, the efficiency of these systems was investigated in 6 blood transfusion centers in Tehran, Alborz, Amol, Hamedan, Semnan and Qom during May to October 2021

In this cross-sectional study, the condition of the components, connections and parts of 35 active engine rooms, ventilation and diesel generator systems in 6 blood transfusion centers was investigated through checklists, interviews and visual observation, and the obtained data was analyzed using the software SPSS 25.

The results of this study indicated the non-compliance with the requirements in the maintenance management system of electrical network equipment and facilities in 6 centers with more than 10 years of history due to the lack of experienced personnel, financial limitations and lack of supervision in effective periodic visits, safety tests, and corrections. The need for reforms was imperative in the engine room and electrical network. The average non-cleansing of components in these centers was 61%, deposits and corrosion of connections 33%, rust 25%, clutter and accumulation of wires and cables 67%.

The results of this study showed that non-compliance with the requirements of the maintenance management system leads to the failure to prevent the occurrence of damages and injuries on the performance of the devices, as well as the failure to increase the safety of the equipment, the useful service life of the operation and the access time, along with the reduction of breakdowns and repair costs.

Thalassemia is the most common monogenic disease worldwide inherited in autosomal recessive manner. Beta-thalassemia is caused by mutations in beta-globin gene. It is characterized by reduction in red blood cell indices including low MCV, low MCH, high RBC count, low HbA1 and high HbA2. Considering these symptoms, finding a relation between erythrocyte indices and kind of mutations can be used as a rapid method in mutation diagnosis and initial screening of carriers.

In this descriptive-analytical study after DNA extraction from 200 beta- thalassemia minors in Khuzestan province by salting out method, we amplified and sequenced beta-globin gene by Sanger sequencing. Finally, we analyzed statistically the beta-globin gene mutations and erythrocyte indices association by SPSS.

Our results showed that IVSII-1(G > A) is the most common mutation with 22.5% frequency in this population of beta-thalassemia carriers. We found that MCV index variations have a meaningful association with beta-globin gene mutations and the highest mean of MCV (65.4 ± 3.7) was observed in IVSI-110(G > A) mutation.

The results comply with many other studies performed in this field and can be used for rapid detection of mutation in carrier parents and prenatal diagnosis.

Gamma irradiation (GI) to platelet products is a usual therapeutic procedure for preventing the transfusion associated graft versus host disease (TA-GVHD) in susceptible recipients. Nevertheless, some studies indicate a decrease in platelet recovery after transfusion, associated with higher levels of platelet storage lesion (PSL) in gamma irradiated platelets. In addition, the induction of oxidant stress, especially the increase in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) following the treatment of platelet products with gamma rays, has been reported in some studies. Therefore, given the known effects of ROS on PSL induction, the review presented here, while introducing different sources of ROS production during storage, also discusses the importance of storage-dependent oxidative stress in platelet products exposed to gamma radiation. For this purpose, studies published in MEDLINE, PubMed and Google scholar were searched for relevant keywords, among which 66 studies were cited in this review.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which is caused by SARS-COV-2 has affected most parts of the world in a short period. Transfusion services are also affected during the emergence of a pandemic of this magnitude. Due to the widespread outbreak of SARS-COV-2, new guidelines have been adopted in blood transfusion centers. Considering the impact of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic on blood transfusion services, blood donation, blood safety, and the use of blood products as a treatment for COVID-19 are addressed in this article.

In this review, keywords were searched in Science Direct, PubMed, and Scopus databases, and the sites of Nature Science, Elsevier, Cell, BMJ, Blood, Transfusion, and Lancet journals, and finally 99 articles were used.

In this article, in addition to a brief review of patient blood management, blood safety, and donor safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of blood products as a treatment is considered.

Hospitals and blood centers have created new policies and guidelines to protect donors and blood supplies including adding new questions to the donor questionnaire and adopting new deferrals for COVID-19 infection and vaccination. Although hyperimmune plasma (convalescent plasma) is proposed as a possible treatment, there are some contradictions in this field.