title: The effect of frequent whole blood donation on ferritin, hepcidin, and subclinical atherosclerosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Iron catalyzes the formation of free radicals, which could lead to damaged vascular walls and subsequent atherosclerosis. Blood donation decreases iron stores and can thus decrease cardiovascular risk. Even within blood donors, differences in stored iron are observed. This study investigates whether increasing lifetime number of donations decreases the extent of subclinical atherosclerosis within blood donors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subclinical atherosclerosis was evaluated in 269 blood donors by measuring intima-media thickness (IMT), pulse-wave velocity (PWV), and ankle-brachial index (ABI). Lifetime number of whole blood donations was categorized into sex-specific donation tertiles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ferritin and hepcidin were lower in high-frequency donors compared to low-frequency donors. Donors in the third sex-specific donation tertile had on average a 0.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], -3.6 to +3.0%) lower IMT, a 2.1% (95% CI, -3.9 to +8.0%) higher PWV, and a 1.5% (95% CI, -1.4 to +4.5%) higher ABI compared to donors in the first sex-specific donation tertile.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With such small differences and no consistent trend across donation groups, it cannot be concluded that blood donation has a beneficial effect on the extent of subclinical atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Donor Studies, Sanquin Research, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. k.peffer@sanquin.nl
authors.forename: Karlijn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Peffer
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: den Heijer
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holewijn
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Graaf
authors.forename: Dorine W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Swinkels
authors.forename: André L M
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Verbeek
authors.forename: Femke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Atsma
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000097:blood*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001782:Blood Donors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D064451:Hepcidins; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; C578702:HAMP protein, human; D064451:Hepcidins; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron