Plasma cytokines of leucofiltered and nonleucofiltered prestored whole blood

Background and aim The cytokines in the stored blood units are thought to be released by white blood cells and associated with the pathophysiological process of transfusion reactions. This study aimed to assess the effect of blood storage and the prestorage leucofilteration on the plasma levels of studied cytokines. Patients and methods Whole blood was collected from 20 healthy donors, and groups were randomly assigned into two groups (the first contained 10 leucofiltered units, and the other contained 10 nonleucofiltered units). Samples were taken on baseline (day 0), then at days 10, 21, and 35 after storage and frozen immediately at −80°C until the analysis. Analysis for cytokines was performed on the Luminex100/ 200TM system. Results Four out of the 6 cytokines assayed; [macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-16, and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)] were found in the plasma of healthy donors. A significant increase in (MIF, IL-16, and HGF) in nonleucofiltered than in leucofiltered blood units. MIF, IL-16 showed a significant increase, while HGF decreased in both groups at each time point over the storage time (0–35 days). There was no significant change in plasma TNF-α level in total cases over the storage time. the other 2 cytokines [IL-17A, and Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF)] could not be identified in the plasma of healthy blood donors. Conclusion Our findings suggested that pre-storage leucofilteration is associated with lower cytokine accumulation in preserved blood elements.