title: Lymphocytopenia in donors undergoing regular platelet apheresis with cell separators.
abstract: The effect of regular platelet apheresis on lymphocyte count was investigated in 142 platelet donors who donated up to 113 times on Haemonetics Model 30 and Fenwal Model CS-3000 cell separators. Lymphocytopenia (lymphocyte count less than 0.9 X 10(9)/l) was found in 21 out of 113 (18.6%) donors who donated solely on the Haemonetics Model 30 compared with 2 out of 100 (2%) whole blood donors and none of 100 plasmapheresis donors (P less than 0.002). Lymphocyte count was inversely related to the total number of platelet donations (r = 0.51, P less than 0.001) and total estimated lymphocyte loss (r = 0.49, P less than 0.001) suggesting a cumulative effect. T4 and T8 lymphocyte subsets were found to be reduced in each of 13 lymphocytopenic platelet donors tested but T4/T8 ratios were similar to those of controls (2.51 +/- 0.79 and 2.33 +/- 0.58 respectively). No adverse effects on platelet donor health were observed but it is suggested that platelet apheresis protocols should be designed to minimize lymphocyte loss.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001781:Blood Component Removal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes; D008231:Lymphopenia / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010983:Plateletpheresis / Q000009:adverse effects*