Does the sex of a blood donor matter?

A large clinical trial conducted in Ottawa showed no significant difference in survival between people who received red blood cell transfusions from female donors and those who received transfusions from male donors. Previous observational studies had suggested that donor sex may impact recipient survival, but the results were conflicting. The two groups also had no significant difference in hospital stays, although there was a higher number of people who had a MRSA infection in the group who received blood from female donors. “Some observational studies had suggested female donor blood might be linked with a higher risk of death among recipients compared to male donor blood, but our clinical trial found that isn’t the case,” said co-lead author Dr. Dean Fergusson, a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital, director of the clinical epidemiology program and a professor at the University of Ottawa. For this large randomized trial, every patient at the Ottawa Hospital needing a red blood cell transfusion between September 2018 and December 2020 was randomized to receive either female or male donor blood, with the medical staff and recipient patients blinded to the sex of the donor. Follow-up data was obtained from hospital registries. More than 8,719 patients were part of the trial. Read: Number of Canadian blood donors plummets to lowest point in a decade during COVID-19 The average follow-up was 11.2 months. Of the patients who received red blood cell transfusion, there was a 2% risk of death, but no difference in survival between those who received blood from female or male donors. The mean duration of hospital stay was 21 days for the female donor group and 20.8 days for the male donor group. There are sex-related differences in red blood cells, the researchers noted, including differences in deformability, oxygen carrying capacity, susceptibility to lysis, immunomodulatory activity and induction of vasculopathy. Yet the trial found no significant difference in survival for recipents who received male or female red blood cell transfusions. “Blood is the most common life-saving treatment given in hospital,” said Dr. Jason Acker, senior scientist at Canadian Blood Services. “As a blood provider, we were happy to help answer this very important question in transfusion medicine. We hope the findings encourage all eligible donors to continue to donate.” The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Read: Why doesn't Canada make its own baby formula when we have the raw ingredients?

Does the sex of a blood donor matter?

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