Platelet concentrate and type II IL-1 receptor are risk factors for allergic transfusion reactions in children

Allergic transfusion reactions (ATRs) are immunological reactions after transfusion. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a critical regulator for human diseases. We performed this study to investigate the association of type II IL-1 decoy receptor (IL1R2) expression with ATRs in children.

Children received blood transfusions between January and December 2019 were included. The age, sex, number and type of blood transfusion, allergic history, and medical history were collected and statistically analyzed. The blood samples were collected from children with and without ATRs for detecting the relative expression IL1R2 mRNA. Logistics regression analysis was performed to identify the risk factors for ATRs in children. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the predictive performance of risk factors.

Totally, 28,840 transfusions in 20,230 children, with 236 ATRs (0.82%) in 117 patients (0.58%) were included. ATRs were common in children at the hematology-oncology department, in children received higher number of blood transfusions, and older children. Platelet concentrate induced a higher incidence of ATRs (3.31%) than red cell concentrate (0.22%, p < 0.0001). After the transfusion, IL1R2 mRNA level was higher in the blood samples in children with ATRs than those without ATRs (p < 0.0001). Logistics regression analysis indicated that platelet concentrate (95% CI 3.555, 293.782) and IL1R2 expression (95% CI 1.171 × 10², 1.494 × 10⁴) were independent risk factors for ATRs in children. IL1R2 expression had high performance in predicting ATRs (AUC = 0.998, 100% sensitivity and 98.85% specificity).

High IL1R2 expression level in children who received blood transfusions may predict the morbidity of ATR.