The Effect of Sex-Mismatched Red Blood Cell Transfusion on Endothelial Cell Activation in Critically Ill Patients

Background: Observational studies suggest that sex-mismatched transfusion is associated with increased mortality. Mechanisms driving mortality are not known but may include endothelial activation. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of sex-mismatched red blood cell (RBC) transfusions on endothelial cell activation markers in critically ill patients.

Study design and methods: In patients admitted to the intensive care unit who received a single RBC unit, blood samples were drawn before (T₀), 1 h after (T₁), and 24 h after transfusion (T₂₄) for analysis of soluble syndecan-1, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, soluble thrombomodulin (sTM), von Willebrand factor antigen, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα). Changes in the levels of these factors were compared between sex-matched and sex-mismatched groups.

Results: Of 69 included patients, 32 patients were in the sex-matched and 37 patients were in the sex-mismatched group. Compared to baseline, sex-matched transfusion was associated with significant reduction in sTM level (p value = 0.03). Between-group comparison showed that levels of syndecan-1 and sTM were significantly higher in the sex-mismatched group compared to the sex-matched group at T₂₄ (p value = 0.04 and 0.01, respectively). Also, TNFα and IL-6 levels showed a statistically marginal significant increase compared to baseline in the sex-mismatched group at T₂₄ (p value = 0.06 and 0.05, respectively), but not in the sex-matched group.

Discussion: Transfusion of a single sex-mismatched RBC unit was associated with higher syndecan-1 and sTM levels compared to transfusion of sex-matched RBC unit. These findings may suggest that sex-mismatched RBC transfusion is associated with endothelial activation.