Blood donation intends to lower the blood pressure and risk for having heart attacks. But does doing blood donation from the donors' affect their immune system? If so, how does it do specifically?
A study was conducted by Al-Hazimi A. entitled “Effect of stress on immunity: a study among healthy blood donors at King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah'' examined the physiological reaction that induced psychological stress in blood donation. It demonstrated that there is an imbalance in lymphocyte subpopulations that may have been caused by a decrease in the total blood volume. The imbalance caused by the decline in CD4+ cells, or T helper, and the rise in CD8+ cells, or T-suppressor, led to a general decline in the CD4/CD8 ratio. The suppressive properties of the CD8 lymphocyte subset may have led to the decline in CD4 cells.
A rise in CD56+ cells or NK cells was also observed in the findings, which might indicate an improvement in the immune system as a result of a psychologically positive consequence that alleviated the stress. There was a notable increased concentration of IgG, IgA, and IgM as a result of the stress brought on by the blood donation. The rise in immunoglobulins may have been caused by increased adrenaline levels, which prepare the body's defensive mechanism to fight off foreign agents like bacteria that may attack under stressful conditions. The researcher stated that further investigations are needed to assess the long-term impact of moderate stress on the quantity and functionality of T cells.
Additional researches are necessary to clarify the effects in the mechanisms involving the immune systems of the donors, even without undergoing psychological stress after blood donation.
References:
Al-Hazimi A. (2004). Effect of stress on immunity: a study among healthy blood donors at King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah. Annals of Saudi medicine, 24(1), 52–54. Retrieved February 24, 2023 from https://doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2004.52
What are the side effects of donating blood? (n.d.). HDFC | ERGO. Retrieved February 24, 2023 from https://www.hdfcergo.com/blogs/health-insurance/what-are-the-side-effects-of-donating-blood#:~:text=Giving%20blood%20reduces%20the%20red,state%20within%20a%20few%20weeks.