Written By: Tavishi Dogra | Published : June 14, 2022 6:04 PM IST
Blood plasma is the liquid part of the blood which has antibodies in it. If you are wondering about antibodies, these are produced by our immune system to fight any infection in the body.
Plasma is the fluid portion of blood mainly composed of proteins and clotting factors. Blood centres in India seldom collect only plasma, although one can donate up to 500 ml of plasma by plasmapheresis once a month. The source of plasma in our country is whole blood, split into Red cells, platelets and plasma called fresh frozen plasma(FFP). Plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is a source of nutrients, proteins and clotting factors produced in the liver. Dr C Shivaram, Consultant & Head - Transfusion Medicine, Manipal Hospital Old Airport Road, shares everything about the plasma donation in the article below:
FFP - Plasma is a source of clotting factors and is thus helpful in treating liver disorders and many bleeding disorders. But today, the excess or unused plasma in blood centres is sourced by govt authorized plasma fractionation centres which further break up the plasma into its constituents like individual clotting factors like FVII, FVIII, Fibrinogen etc.
Hence FFP, When fractionated and concentrated, can be used for multiple patients needing individual coagulation factors. For instance, patients with Hemophilia can take injections of Factor VIII available in the pharmacy instead of plasma transfusions. Another set of patients can use factor XIII in plasma.
Further, plasma contains nutrient-rich calories; hence, donating whole blood and plasma may temporarily be associated with calorie loss. This, however, is not a recommended method of weight loss. The donation of plasma has also been linked to the loss of oxidant stress, which is responsible for heart attacks and cancers, potentially reducing the risks of heart attacks and cancer.
Plasma is the only fraction that can be stored for one year, allowing blood centres to stock plasma obtained by splitting whole blood. However, plasma has limited uses in Modern medicine. Hence blood centres do not selectively collect plasma, unlike platelets. However, in developed countries, there is a greater emphasis on plasma donation, where they are paid to donate plasma to facilitate plasma fractionation and production of plasma fractionation factors. However, this is not permitted in India; hence, the impetus to donate or collect only plasma is small. Only the plasma that remains unused by blood centres is given to fractionation companies.
Each person carries 10% of their body weight as blood. Blood can be donated as a whole where all components, including plasma, red blood cells and platelets, are taken out of a donor. Blood donation can be for either plasma or platelets for a specific deficiency.
