Immune erythrocyte antibodies in adult patients with sickle cell disease and blood donors in Lagos, Nigeria: a comparative study
Date
2021
Authors
Adewoyin, A.S
Daramola, O.A
Ogbenna, A.A
Adeyemo, T.A
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Immunohematology
Abstract
Sickle cell disease (SCD) poses a major public health challenge
in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria. Blood transfusion is
a mainstay in SCD treatment. Erythrocyte alloimmunization is
known to complicate the transfusional care of patients with SCD.
Immune alloantibodies are associated with hemolytic transfusion
reactions and transfusion refractoriness. We aimed to deter-
mine the prevalence, specificities, and clinical associations/
risk factors of immune erythrocyte alloantibodies among adult
patients with SCD compared with healthy blood donors in Lagos,
Nigeria, through a cross-sectional study. All participants were
interviewed using a structured questionnaire to obtain details on
bio-data, hemoglobin phenotype, blood transfusion history, and
SCD history where relevant. Blood specimens obtained from each
participant were subjected to antibody screening/identification
using tube agglutination method. The mean age of the SCD
participants and healthy blood donors was 27.92 and 29.04 years,
respectively. The majority (72.5%) of the SCD participants had
received at least 1 unit of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in their
lifetime, compared with only 7.5 percent of blood donors. Six
SCD participants (7.5%) tested positive for atypical erythrocyte
alloantibodies, with none among blood donors. Most of the
antibodies (75%) belonged to the Rh blood group system. The
most frequent antibody was anti-E, followed by anti-C and anti-D.
Advancing age (30 years or more), recent transfusions (last 4
weeks), higher transfusion rates, and established renal disease
were significantly associated with alloimmunization (p values of
0.026, 0.043, 0.002, and 0.043, respectively). This study suggests
blood transfusion as a strong risk factor for RBC alloimmunization
in SCD patients. Extended RBC phenotyping is recommended
for all patients with SCD, especially those receiving regular transfusions.
Description
Scholarly article
Keywords
immune antibodies , erythrocytes , red blood cells , sickle cell disease , blood donors , Lagos , Nigeria , Research Subject Categories::MEDICINE
Citation
Adewoyin, A.S., Daramola, O.A., Ogbenna, A.A. and Adeyemo, T.A. (2021). Immune erythrocyte antibodies in adult patients with sickle cell disease and blood donors in Lagos, Nigeria: a comparative study. Immunohematology, 37(3), 131-137.