Periodontal findings and blood analysis of blood donors: a pilot study

Before blood donation a medical check-up is mandatory to ascertain the health of the donor and to detect infections clinically. Although gingivitis and periodontitis are also bacterial infections, the oral cavity is only inspected superficially. The purpose of this study was to investigate the periodontal condition of blood donors and whether this affects the results of their blood tests.

A total of 192 blood donors were examined. The investigation included a periodontal examination to determine the Community Periodontal Index (CPI), an analysis of blood chemistry, as well as the determination of hematologic, coagulation, and immune parameters C-reactive protein (CRP), Neopterin, Procalcitonin (PCT), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-a). Groups were formed according to periodontal status: "healthy" (n=47, mean age 24+/-4 years), "gingivitis" (n=65, mean age 24+/-4 years), and "periodontitis" (n=80, mean age 29+/-8 years). Most parameters of the routine blood test as well as the immune parameters were unremarkable with regard to the periodontal status. The values for SGPT, GGTP, uric acid, triglycerides, total protein (TP), RBC, hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (HC), Eos, and Baso were also within the normal range. Nevertheless, statistical analysis showed some significant differences in these parameters between the "healthy" group and the "periodontitis" group (p=0.05).

The results of this study show some blood donors have infections of the gingiva and/or of other periodontal tissues. Whether this is a sufficient reason to exclude them from blood donation, or in which case potential donors should be excluded, is not yet known. Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to integrate a screening method for revealing at least severe periodontitis in the medical check-up of blood donors.