Are we donating iron? Impact of apheresis on ferritin.

Iron deficiency due to donation by apheresis has been known for decades [ [1] Bier-Ulrich A.M. Haubelt H. Anders C. et al. The impact of intensive serial plasmapheresis and iron supplementation on iron metabolism and Hb concentration in menstruating women: a prospective randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study. Transfusion. 2003; 43: 405-410 Crossref PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar ], but data on this topic are more limited compared to that on whole blood donors. Because of the increasing trend of both the usage of platelets components (e.g. in the US, an almost 16 % increase in 2019 compared to 2017 [ [2] Jones J.M. Sapiano M.R.P. Mowla S. Bota D. Berger J.J. Basavaraju S.V. Has the trend of declining blood transfusions in the United States ended? Findings of the 2019 National Blood Collection and Utilization Survey. Transfusion. 2021; 61: S1-S10 Crossref PubMed Scopus (30) Google Scholar ]) and the rising activity of source plasma collection [ [3] Penrod J. Plasma supply in the United States. Transfus Apher Sci. 2020; 59 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (4) Google Scholar ], the number of healthy individuals undergoing automated blood donations is predicted to significantly grow. At the same time, the protection of blood donors from iron deficiency has become one of the major challenges in donor care [ [4] Kiss J.E. Vassallo R.R. How do we manage iron deficiency after blood donation?. Br J Haematol. 2018; 181: 590-603 Crossref PubMed Scopus (42) Google Scholar ] with the aim not to harm healthy volunteers and to retain active blood donors on the long term.