The effect of serum vitamin B12, folate, ferritin levels and transferrin saturation on stem cell mobilization in allogeneic donors

Introduction: Peripheric blood derived stem cells are used in 75 % of allogeneic stem cell transplantations. Iron, vitamin B12 and folate involve in hematopoiesis. Therefore serum levels of iron, vitamin B12 and folat may effect stem cell mobilization. We aimed to analyze the effects of iron status, vitamin B12 and folate levels on peripheric blood stem cell mobilization in healthy donors. Method: The mobilization results of 218 allogeneic donors were analyzed retrospectively. Results: In 64 donors, serum ferritin level was < 15 mu g/L and transferrin saturation was < 20 %. When we compared the donors with iron deficiency to the donors without iron deficiency, the number of collected CD34+ cell was significantly higher in donors without iron deficiency. We did not find any impact of serum vitamin B12 and folate level on CD34+ cells collected. Conclusion: Our study shows that serum ferritin and transferrin saturation have a greater effect on the amount of CD34+ cells collected from donors than serum vitamin B12 and folate levels. Consequently, when compliance tests of allogeneic donors are performed, the evaluation of vitamin B12 and folate levels is not necessary; whereas iron deficiency must be assessed and -if possible- corrected before apheresis is performed.