biology

Leukoreduction

Leukoreduction is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Leukoreduction rather than just read about it. In short: Leukoreduction or leukocyte reduction is the process of removing or reducing the number of white blood cells (or leukocytes) from the blood or blood components supplied for blood transfusion. After the removal of the leukocytes, the blood product is said to be leukoreduced.

Key takeaways

Leukoreduction belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Leukoreduction to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Leukoreduction from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Leukoreduction or leukocyte reduction is the process of removing or reducing the number of white blood cells (or leukocytes) from the blood or blood components supplied for blood transfusion. After the removal of the leukocytes, the blood product is said to be leukoreduced.

Benefits and costs It is theorized that transfusions that contain white blood cells may cause adverse effects through multiple mechanisms. White blood cells may themselves harbor infectious disease and some pathogens will be more concentrated in white blood cells than the rest of the blood product. It is also theorized that the donor white blood cells may suppress the recipient's immune system by interacting with it. An April 2007 meta-analysis by Dr. Neil Blumberg and others and covering 3093 patients who received leukoreduced blood was published in the scientific journal Transfusion. According to the meta-analysis, use of leukoreduced blood reduced the frequency of post-transfusion infection by 50%. In a previous study, Blumberg and others reported that a change to universal use of leukoreduced blood at Strong Memorial Hospital at University of Rochester reduced post-transfusion infection by 33-45%. However, other scientific studies question the effectiveness of leukoreduction. A March 2007 study by researchers at University of South Alabama Medical Center found no reduction of mortality or length of hospital stay in 439 trauma patients who received leukoreduced transfusions compared to 240 patients who did not. University of Washington researchers reported in October 2006 that a study of 286 transfused injury patients showed no reduction in mortality or length of stay, although a 16% reduction in rate of infection was shown with marginal statistical significance. Leukoreduction has the inadvertent effect of removing approximately 10% of red blood cells from a processed unit of Red Blood Cells. Because blood from persons who possess the sickle cell mutation is difficult to filter, leukoreduction is often not performed on donors who may have the sickle cell gene, which is most common in people of African descent. Dr. Blumberg, the lead author of the meta-analysis covering 3093 patients, stated in the press that the cost savings due to universal leukoreduction exceeds the cost of performing the leukoreduction. The cost of leukoreduction is an increase of approximately US$30 per unit of blood product.

History of availability As of 2008, most developed nations have adopted universal leukoreduction of transfusions (defined as the routine application of this blood-processing step to all units of whole blood, red blood cells, and platelets prior to storage) with the notable exception of the United States. Canada, Britain and France adopted universal leukoreduction in the late 1990s. Germany adopted it in 2001. Leukoreduced products are commonly available in the United States and some hospitals use only leukoreduced blood while others only use leukoreduced products in certain patient populations. For example, Strong Memorial Hospital began universal use of leukoreduced blood in July 2000; University of South Alabama Medical Center began use in January 2002. Woodlands Medical Centre is beginning a randomised controlled trial to look into the benefits of transfusing leukoreduced whole blood for the ICCU patients.

See also Apheresis Plasmapheresis Venipuncture

References

External links American Society for Apheresis

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Leukoreduction

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Leukoreduction claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Leukoreduction before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Leukoreduction ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Leukoreduction

In research: Leukoreduction appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Leukoreduction in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Leukoreduction is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Transfusion medicine, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Leukoreduction outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Leukoreduction in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Leukoreduction means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Leukoreduction out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Leukoreduction in simple terms?

Why does Leukoreduction matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Leukoreduction?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Leukoreduction.