Frequent blood gift can give us much more than satisfaction with helping others-it can also improve the health of our blood cells and reduce the risk of leukemia, according to a new study.
In the investigation conducted by Hector Huerga Escabo of the Francis Crick Institute in London, men who donated blood more than 100 times have had genetic mutations in their blood cells that may be beneficial to overall health.
It focused on 217 men aged 60 to 72 in Germany, who had donated blood over 100 times, and compared them with 212 men of the same age who had donated less than 10 times. Frequent donors were more likely to be able to mutate in a gene called Dnmt3aassociated with the production of healthier blood cells, showed the results.
The team did experiments in which it genetically changed blood cells of the blood with these mutations and exposed some cells to a hormone called Eritropoietina (EPO)that the body naturally release after blood loss to stimulate the production of blood cells. Over the course of a month, the cells mutated in the presence of EPO 50% grew Faster than their unlucky homologous, suggesting that the process of blood donation through EPO could be favoring the growth of these “good” cells.
The team also tested if mutant cells could offer any protective advantages. They combined them with cells with mutations known to increase the risk of leukemia. In the presence of EPO, the donor cells surpassed the others: they grew more efficiently and produced more red blood cells, suggesting that DNMT3A mutations could help suppress cancer cell growth and be a protection against blood cancer.
“It’s as if the blood gift has a selection pressure to improve the aptitude of stem cells and their ability to renew,” says Ash Toye of the University of Bristol, to: “Not only can we save someone’s life, but perhaps we are improving our blood system’s aptitude.”
Although promising, the investigation is still in its initial phase and further studies are needed to confirm these results in larger and more diverse populations.
