What blood donors eat before can trigger allergic reactions in youth - study

It’s well known that blood cannot be donated to another person if their blood types are not well-matched. But do allergies get in the way too?

Japanese scientists have discovered that allergic transfusion reactions (ATRs) – a potentially life-threatening side effect of blood transfusions with unclear mechanisms – may be linked to food allergies in children.

ATRs are thought to be caused by immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated type 1 allergy, but in many cases, the allergen responsible is unknown.

In their study, they found that ATRs could be triggered by the presence of allergens in the donor’s blood, influenced by what the donors ate before they gave blood. These findings could pave the way for safer blood transfusions through the development of preventive measures and countermeasures for ATRs, they said.

Blood transfusions are often life-saving procedures in various medical settings. They are required not only after severe blood loss due to surgery or trauma but also as standard treatment for certain blood disorders like anemia and sickle cell disease.

However, blood transfusions can have serious side effects, ATRs being particularly prevalent among children. Although scientists believe ATRs are caused by immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated type 1 allergy (or “immediate hypersensitivity”), the responsible allergens are not always known.

A research team that included Dr. Ryu Yanagisawa of Shinshu University Hospital, with Dr. Minoru Tozuka and Dr. Yasunori Ito from Nagano Children’s Hospital, set out to learn more. In their new study published online in the journal Allergy titled “Activation of basophils in children with food allergies by blood from donors ingesting the corresponding food,” the researchers focused their attention on what might have appeared to be an unlikely suspect.

Yanagisawa explained that “in our previous study, we found that pediatric patients with food allergies were characteristically more prone to ATRs. Considering that food allergies are also more prevalent in children, we decided to investigate whether the food the donor ate before giving blood could be associated with the development of ATRs in children with food allergies.”

Team collected blood samples from children with food allergies

Between May 2022 and December 2023, the team collected blood samples from over 100 children and teens diagnosed with food allergies to either eggs, wheat, or milk. They also collected blood from two healthy donors before and after substantial ingestion of these food products and extracted the serum.

 Soon after collecting blood from each allergic patient, the researchers conducted basophil activation tests (BATs) by exposing the sample to the corresponding sera. As the name implies, these tests assess the activation of basophils, a particular type of white blood cell that is strongly involved in allergic reactions.

Interestingly, in patients with egg allergy, BAT levels were significantly higher when the blood was exposed to the serum of donors who had eaten eggs. Moreover, serum obtained from blood donor samples collected four hours after egg ingestion resulted in markedly higher BAT levels than those collected two hours after egg ingestion. In contrast, the results for milk and wheat were more varied, with BAT levels only being elevated after exposure to the serum of one of the two donors.

The researchers then decided to run BAT tests with sera from 16 more donors. “Although some differences were observed among donors, blood samples obtained after egg ingestion generally activated basophils in cases of egg allergy with high egg white-specific IgE levels,” Yanagisawa said. “Similarly, elevated BAT levels in patients with milk and wheat allergies were also associated with allergen-specific IgE levels.”

Overall, the evidence obtained through this study strongly suggests that ATRs could be triggered by the food consumed by donors before a blood donation. Although further analyses and experiments will be needed to confirm this with more certainty, the researchers said that these efforts constitute a necessary first step towards elucidating the mechanisms underlying ATRs.

“In the future, it could be possible to predict in advance who is likely to suffer from an ATR. Given enough time, preventive measures and countermeasures to ATRs could be developed, leading to safer blood transfusions,” concluded Yanagisawa.