The example of neonatal lupus erythematosus teaches us that transfer of autoantibodies may cause irreversible effects in the recipient's body. This study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of autoantibodies in blood for transfusion. Blood samples of 50 donors from a donation centre in Lublin (eastern Poland) were tested. The donors were all males aged 21 - 55 (median 35) years, none was suspected of having autoimmune disease. Enzyme immunoassay was used with the Varelisa ReCombi ANA Profile EIA kit (Pharmacia&Upjohn) with the following antigens: dsDNA, RNP, Sm, SS-A/Ro, SS-B/La, Scl-70, CENP, Jo-1.
Results: one or more antinuclear autoantibodies were detected in 6 of 50 blood samples; dsDNA-specific autoantibodies were found in 1, RNP - in 1, SS-A/Ro - in 4, and Scl-70 - in 1 sample. No Sm, SS-B/La, CENP, and Jo-1-specific autoantibodies were detected. We conclude that a closer analysis of possible impact of autoantibodies in transfusion blood on recipients' health should be undertaken, in order to decide if screening blood donors for autoantibodies would be reasonable.
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