Detection of anti-A and anti-B haemagglutinin titre in blood group O donor plasma and its correlation to donor age and gender

Although blood group O donors are considered as universal donors, their plasma contains both types of antibodies; anti-A and anti-B. These antibodies can cause acute haemolytic transfusion reactions (HTR) due to passive transfer of antibodies. These antibodies can be detected using titration techniques. Titers 1:64 or higher is considered as the high tittered antibody levels for IgM type anti-A and anti-B and titers 1:32 or lower is considered as low tittered antibody levels. This cross-sectional analytical study was aimed to determine the anti- A and anti-B haemagglutinin titre in blood group O donor plasma and its correlation to donor age and gender. The study sample consist of a total of 132 blood group O donor samples received to the blood bank, Teaching Hospital Karapitiya (THK), over a period of one month from March to April 2022. Samples were analyzed using standard tube technique. The study sample consisted of 44.6% females and 55.3% males, and their ages ranged from 18 to 60 years. In this sample there were 45.5% donors with high antibody titres and it was observed that the donor frequencies for both anti- A and anti-B titres were higher in females than in males. The highest titres (1:128) were observed among female donors aged 29-38 years. Furthermore, the results of this study show a significant correlation between donor age and high titers among young donors, compared to older donors. Among both female and male donors, the highest antibody titres were found in age groups 18-28 and 28-38. Therefore, the risk of being a dangerous donor is higher among younger donors (18-38) than the older donors (48-55). Findings of this study confirm the necessity to perform prior titrations during transfusion of blood group O donor products, especially for products containing high volume of plasma. Low tittered O donor blood products can be used for safe transfusions during out of group transfusions, preventing transfusion reactions.