The National Blood Center, Kuala Lumpur interprets laboratory results for the von Willebrand factor (vWF) profile based on guidelines provided by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which were established based on the Caucasian population [1-2]. The vWF profiles among the Malay population has not yet been established.
The goals of this study were to determine the vWF profiles of the different ABO blood types among Malays and to evaluate their association with demographic characteristics and smoking habits.
One hundred and forty Malay donors participated in this study. Factor VIII (FVIII), vWF antigen, and ristocetin cofactor (RiCof) levels and collagen binding activity (CBA) were measured by coagulometric clot detection, latex agglutination, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the major public health problems in Malaysia. It remains the most common permanent deferral among blood donors. In Malaysia, the national vaccination programme has been introduced since 1989 to prevent HBV transmission. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of HBV infection among first-time blood donors after the implementation of the national hepatitis B vaccination programme. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study involving tracing of the database of National Blood Centre Malaysia. The record of first-time blood donors who had donated between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2015 and were screened HBV positive was reviewed and analysed. Results: There were 376,737 first-time donors who had donated blood and 575 of them screened positive for HBV. The overall prevalence of seropositive for hepatitis B was 0.15%. The prevalence was higher at 0.23% among donors born before the year 1989 (pre-vaccination era) compared to 0.05% among donors born in and after the year 1989 (post-vaccination era). Perinatal transmission was found to have 15 times higher odds of developing HBV infection as compared to those who had the combination of risk factors among those born after the year 1989 (adjusted OR=14.95, 95% CI 1.80=124.01). Conclusion: The implementation of the national vaccination programme reduced the prevalence of hepatitis B among donors who received vaccination at birth compared to those who did not.
Percentage of haemolysis is widely used as a quality parameter to assess red blood cell viability in blood banking. In certain blood banks, serum potassium level is used due to the unavailability of the former test. The relationship between these two tests, however, is still unclear. The objective of this study is to determine the association between haemolysis measured using two different methods for quality control. Methods: A total of forty-four samples of packed red cell in citrate-phosphate-dextrose with optisol were randomly selected from donation drives. Nine millilitres of blood was collected weekly starting from day-2 of storage, followed by day-7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 for assessment of red blood cell haemolysis by measuring serum potassium level and percentage of haemolysis.Results: These two parameters were correlated significantly with a positive moderate linear relationship on day 7, 21 and 28 with r = 0.393, 0.448 and 0.425, respectively and p-values less than 0.01. The linear regression analysis showed there was a significant regression equation which could be used to predict the serum potassium level from the percentage of haemolysis. Conclusion: There were significant increases in the percentage of haemolysis and serum potassium level in the packed red cell units with storage. The serum potassium level would be able to be predicted from the percentage of haemolysis using the regression equations on day 7, 21 and 28. The serum potassium measurement could be used as an alternative test to the percentage of haemolysis before issuing blood.
Introduction: The National Blood Center, Kuala Lumpur interprets laboratory results for the von Willebrand factor (VWF) profile based on guidelines which were established based on the Caucasian population. The VWF profiles among the Malay population has not yet been established. The current study aims to determine the VWF profiles of the different ABO blood types among Malays and to evaluate their association with demographic characteristics and smoking habits. Methods: One hundred and forty Malay donors were involved. Factor VIII (FVIII:C), VWF antigen (VWF:Ag), and ristocetin cofactor (VWF:RiCof) levels and collagen binding activity (VWF:CBA) were measured by coagulometric clot detection, latex agglutination, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The majority of donors (59.3%) were 30–49 years old, male (81.43%), non-smokers (74.3%), and overweight (71.4%). The Malay VWF:Ag were slightly higher than those of Caucasians, Indians, Thais, and Chinese, but the average ratios of VWF activity (i.e., VWF:RiCof level and VWF:CBA) to VWF:Ag were slightly lower than those of the other populations. The highest level of VWF:Ag was found among those with the B blood group, followed by types A and O. Conclusion: Malays with type O blood had lower values of the components of the VWF profile compared to subjects with non-O blood. The higher levels of these elements and lower VWF activity to VWF:Ag ratio in Malays compared to other populations suggest that ethnicity impacts the plasma VWF levels and their interaction with collagen and platelets.