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Background and Objectives: In Japan, apheresis donation of plasma is allowed to a maximum of 24 times a year, and plateletpheresis are counted as two plasmapheresis donations. Diversion of the initial blood flow is conducted for all donations, and additionally, blood remaining in apheresis machine circuit is lost. Here, we aimed to investigate on the health impact of frequent apheresis donations, as measured by the serum ferritin (sFer). Materials and Methods: A total of 538 male apheresis donors and 538 age‐matched whole blood (WB) donors, who gave informed consent to join the study, were enrolled. sFer were compared, according to age. Another group of 19 apheresis donors were followed during four consecutive donations. Results: About half (48%) of repeat male apheresis donors had iron deficiency (sFer < 26 ng/mL), compared with lower rates (13.9%) among male WB donors. It was evident in all age groups, except for teenagers, possibly because of the lower number of donations. Follow‐up of the 19 donors for 4 months revealed a progressive decrease in sFer. Conclusion: Blood remaining in the apheresis machine circuit and diversion of the initial blood flow have been implicated in iron deficiency for many years. Taking the present results, the manufacturer of apheresis equipment was requested to improve it to allow rinseback of the remaining blood, which was achieved only for plateletpheresis. Until further improvement, plasmapheresis frequency was reduced to 12 times a year. Additional measures, such as oral supplementation of iron, need to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: A more restrictive blood donation criterion has been applied in Japan, with a maximum volume of whole blood (WB) donation of 400 mL, allowing twice a year for female donors and thrice a year for male donors. However, iron deficiency was as high as 20.5% among female donors prior to donation, increasing to 37.7% after blood donation. More than 20 years have passed since then, so we set out to investigate the present situation. Materials and Methods: A total of 2659 (male/female: 1496/1163) donors of 400 mL WB who gave informed consent to join the study were enrolled. Serum ferritin (sFer) of first‐time/reactivated (FT/RA) donors were compared with those of repeat donors, according to gender and age; those who returned for subsequent donations during the study period were also followed up. Results: About one‐third of FT/RA female donors had iron deficiency, possibly reflecting its high incidence among the general population. Interestingly, although sFer levels were low among pre‐menopausal FT/RA female donors, these values were not much different in repeat donors, whereas significant differences were observed between FT/RA and repeat donors among post‐menopausal females and in most age groups among males. As expected, donors with a normal initial sFer (≥26 ng/mL) recovered faster than those with a low initial sFer. Conclusion: Female donors, especially, have iron deficiency even before donation, and the rate increased compared to what was found previously. Measures to prevent iron deficiency of blood donors is required, and studies are going on in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]