Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 12, 2026
Continuous Manual Exchange Transfusion for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: An Efficient Method to Avoid Iron Overload
Published on: March 14, 2017
Compensated iron depletion in repeated blood donations: Stability of circulating microRNAs despite reduced ferritin
Aziz Karaca1, Şenol Çitli2, Medeni Arpa3
1Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey.
Background And Objectives:
Repeated blood donations deplete 200-250 mg of iron per donation. While biochemical consequences on iron stores are well documented, the role of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in maintaining iron homeostasis remains poorly characterized. This study investigated whether repeated blood donation alters iron metabolism-related miRNA expression.
Materials And Methods:
A cross-sectional study compared 42 male participants: 21 repeat donors (donating three to four times annually; mean total donations: 15) and 21 first-time donors. Plasma iron metabolism markers (ferritin, hepcidin, ferroportin, transferrin, soluble transferrin receptor 1 [sTfR1], soluble transferrin receptor 2 [sTfR2], unsaturated iron-binding capacity [UIBC]) were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and chemiluminescence methods. Expression of 13 miRNAs was analysed by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, normalized to U6 and quantified using the 2-ΔΔCt method.
Results:
Repeat donors exhibited significantly lower ferritin (median: 26.8 vs. 72.2 ng/mL; p < 0.001), elevated red cell distribution width coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) (13.86% vs. 13.07%; p < 0.001) and reduced mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (33.80 vs. 34.23 g/dL; p = 0.009) while maintaining normal haemoglobin. No significant differences were observed in any miRNA after multiple-testing correction. However, miR-130a showed a marginal decrease (fold change: 0.389; p = 0.0564; Cohen's d = 0.514), while miR-200b and miR-485-3p demonstrated non-significant upward trends. Correlation analysis revealed distinct patterns between groups in iron regulatory protein relationships.
Conclusion:
Repeated blood donations demonstrate 'compensated iron depletion'. No significant differences were detected in the 13 selected iron-homeostasis-related miRNAs after multiple-testing correction. Within the limits of this small, male-only study evaluating a single miRNA panel, these findings indicate no detectable alteration, while underscoring the importance of ferritin monitoring; broader molecular pathways were not assessed, and given the limited statistical power, a Type II error cannot be excluded.
