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Introduction: Haemoglobin (Hb) levels are used to assess eligibility for blood donation but are not correlated with iron status. The percentage of hypochromic red cells (%Hypo-He) has been suggested as a useful screening parameter for iron deficiency.The aim of this study was to determine the cut-off level and accuracy of %Hypo-He screening among blood donors. Materials and Methods:A total of 170 blood donors were recruited into the study.Blood donors were classified into three groups: normal, latent iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia based on their Hb, serum ferritin and transferrin saturation (TSAT) levels. The diagnostic performance of %Hypo-He was evaluated with a validation group comprising 160 blood donors. Results:Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that %Hypo-He is an excellent parameter for detecting iron deficiency, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.906, a confidence interval (CI) of 0.854-0.957 at a cut-off of 0.6%, and 74.51% sensitivity and 88.24% specificity. A moderate negative correlation between %Hypo-He and TSAT (ρ = −0.576 [P < 0.001]) and a strong negative correlation between %Hypo-He and serum ferritin (ρ = −0.703 [P < 0.001]) were found. A cut-off value of 0.6% was applied to the validation group and showed 82.9% sensitivity and 96% specificity.Conclusion: %Hypo-He with a cut-off value of 0.6% is a potential parameter with high sensitivity and specificity for evaluating iron status among blood donors. This parameter is suitable for screening because its measurement has a faster turnaround time than biochemical markers. K E Y W O R D S blood donors, percentage of hypochromic red cells, screening parameter, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation How to cite this article: Amir N, Md Noor S, Subbiah I, Osman M, Seman Z. Percentage of hypochromic red cells as a potential screening test to evaluate iron status in blood donors. Int J Lab

Background: Prevalence and the risk of common antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) such as lupus anticoagulant (LA), anticardiolipin (aCL) and anti-β2-glycoprotein I (β2-GPI) antibodies in preeclampsia is a matter of debate. Recently, interests have expanded in evaluating the risks of presenting non-classic aPLs in preeclampsia patients. Objective: The objective of this case-control study was to evaluate some haematological parameters besides assessing the presence of anti-annexin A5 and antiphosphatidylinositol (aPI) antibodies in preeclampsia patients compared to nonpreeclampsia subjects. Methods: From two hospitals in Malaysia, a total of 84 subjects were recruited in this case-control study including 42 preeclampsia and 42 age-matched non-preeclampsia subjects. Some haematological parameters [i.e., haemoglobin, total white blood cell, platelet, prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT)] were assessed besides screening for anti-annexin A5 and aPI antibodies. Results: Among the haematological parameters, APTT was significantly high in mild preeclampsia when compared to severe preeclampsia subjects (p=0.007). IgG anti-annexin A5 antibody was detected in a single preeclampsia subject only (2.4%) and none in non-preeclampsia subjects. Conclusion: Because of the low prevalence, non-classic aPLs should not be considered as a risk factor in developing preeclampsia and not justifiable to consider as a routine assay in pregnant women.