Persistence of elevated plasma CXCL8 concentrations following red blood cell transfusion in a trauma cohort

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is associated with alterations in systemic concentrations of IL-8/CXCL8 functional homologs in a murine model. Whether RBC transfusion alters systemic neutrophil chemokine concentrations in individuals sustaining traumatic injury is not known. We conducted a retrospective, single-center study of severely injured trauma patients presenting within 12 h of injury with a base deficit greater than 6 and hypotension in the field. Plasma concentrations of 25 chemokines, cytokines, and growth factors were obtained from both transfused (n = 22) and nontransfused (n = 33) groups in the first 48 h following admission. The transfused group (mean RBC units, 2.7 [SD, 1.7]) tended to be older (49.9 [SD, 21.1] vs. 40.4 [SD, 19.9] years, P = 0.10), with a higher percentage of females (40.9% vs. 18.2%, P = 0.06) and a higher Injury Severity Score (27.1 [SD, 12.7] vs. 21.4 [SD, 10.2], P = 0.07). In univariate and multivariate analyses, transfusion was associated with increased hospital and intensive care unit length of stay but not ventilator-free days. Plasma CXCL8 concentrations were higher in the transfused (84 [SD, 88] pg/mL) than the nontransfused group (31 [SD, 21] pg/mL, P = 0.003). Using a linear prediction model to calculate bioanalyte concentrations standardized for age, sex, Injury Severity Score, and admission SBP, we observed that CXCL8 concentrations diverged within 12 h following injury, with the transfused group showing persistently elevated CXCL8 concentrations by contrast to the decay observed in the nontransfused group. Other bioanalytes showed no differences across time. Red blood cell transfusion is associated with persistently elevated neutrophil chemokine CXCL8 concentrations following traumatic injury.