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Observational Study
. 2015 Oct;35(10):837-41.
doi: 10.1038/jp.2015.73. Epub 2015 Jul 16.

Red blood cell transfusions increase fecal calprotectin levels in premature infants

T T B Ho  1 , M W Groer  2 , A A Luciano  1 , A Schwartz  3 , M Ji  2 , B S Miladinovic  4 , A Maheshwari  5 , T L Ashmeade  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Red blood cell transfusions increase fecal calprotectin levels in premature infants

T T B Ho et al. J Perinatol. 2015 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: We hypothesized that red blood cell (RBC) transfusions influence intestinal inflammation in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. We also suspected that hematocrit (Hct) at transfusions and RBC storage time correlate with intestinal inflammation.

Study design: VLBW infants, without major congenital defects, intestinal perforation or necrotizing enterocolitis, were enrolled prospectively. Fecal calprotectin (FC) levels were measured from stool samples collected before and after RBC transfusions. Data on Hct and RBC storage time were collected.

Result: Data from 42 RBC transfusions given to 26 infants revealed that FC levels increased faster than baseline after RBC transfusions (P=0.018) and were higher in multiple-transfused infants (0 to 48 and >48 h post transfusion, P=0.007 and P=0.005, respectively). Lower Hct and RBC storage >21 days correlated with higher FC levels (P=0.044 and P=0.013, respectively).

Conclusion: RBC transfusions, anemia and prolonged RBC storage were associated with an increase in intestinal inflammation.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Difference in posttransfusion fecal calprotectin (FC) levels (mean ± 95% confidence interval) based on packed red blood cell (PRBC) storage age. Infants were transfused with RBCs ⩽21 days of age (n = 20) or >21 days of age (n = 19). A linear mixed-effect model of FC levels regressed on RBC storage age and controlled for hematocrit at transfusion, confirmed a significant difference in the means (B = 0.428, s.e. = 0.170, t(95) = 2.52, P = 0.013).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The correlation between post-transfusion fecal calprotec-tin (FC) levels and hematocrit at the time of transfusion. The line represents the fit of a linear model. A linear mixed-effect model of log-transformed FC levels regressed on hematocrit at the time of transfusion controlled for red blood cell storage time >21 days or not confirmed a significant negative relationship (B = 0.53, s. e. = 0.17, t(95) = 2.52, P = 0.013).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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