The Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study (REDS) program was established in the United States in 1989 with the purpose of increasing blood transfusion safety in the context of the HIV/AIDS and human T-lymphotropic virus epidemics. REDS and its successor, REDS-II were at first conducted in the US, then expanded in 2006 to include international partnerships with Brazil and China. In 2011, a third wave of REDS renamed the Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study-III (REDS-III) was launched. This seven-year research program focuses on both blood banking and transfusion medicine research in the United States of America, Brazil, China, and South Africa. The main goal of the international programs is to reduce and prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other known and emerging infectious agents through transfusion, and to address research questions aimed at understanding global issues related to the availability of safe blood. This article describes the contribution of REDS-II to transfusion safety in Brazil. Articles published from 2010 to 2013 are summarized, including database analyses to characterize blood donors, deferral rates, and prevalence, incidence and residual risk of the main blood-borne infections. Specific studies were developed to understand donor motivation, the impact of the deferral questions, risk factors and molecular surveillance among HIV-positive donors, and the natural history of Chagas disease. The purpose of this review is to disseminate the acquired knowledge and briefly summarize the findings of the REDS-II studies conducted in Brazil as well as to introduce the scope of the REDS-III program that is now in progress and will continue through 2018.

Os experimentos de intercruzamento de cepas constituem um valioso meio de mapear genes que afetam caracteres quantitativos complexos. Nós estudamos a variabilidade genética do intercruzamento das cepas procriadas por endogamia de camundongos Large (LG/J) e Small (SM/J), como um guia para estudos de mapeamento gênico. Dez machos SM/J foram cruzados com 10 fêmeas LG/J, após o que os animais foram acasalados aleatoriamente para produzir as gerações intercruzadas F1, F2 e F3. Os 1632 animais da geração F3 das 200 famílias de irmãos completos foram usados para calcular a herdabilidade e as correlações genéticas dos caracteres medidos. Um subgrupo de famílias foi submetido a adoção cruzada após o nascimento, para permitir a avaliação da importância dos efeitos maternos pós-natais. Foram coletados dados semanais de peso corporal da 1ª à 10ª semanas, assim como dados de necropsia do peso corporal, peso de órgãos, peso do coxim gorduroso reprodutor e comprimento de cauda nas gerações intercruzadas. Não houve heterose para pesos específicos para idade ou caracteres de necropsia, exceto pelo fato de que o peso da 1ª semana foi o maior na geração F2, indicando heterose dos efeitos maternos nas mães da geração F1. Encontramos herdabilidade moderada/alta para a maioria dos pesos específicos para a idade e dos caracteres de necropsia. Os efeitos maternos foram significantes para os pesos específicos para a idade da 1ª à 4ª semana, mas desapareceram completamente para o peso de 10 semanas. Os efeitos maternos para os caracteres de necropsia foram pequenos e não estatisticamente significantes. Os pesos específicos para a idade mostraram um padrão de correlação típico, com declínio da correlação à medida que a diferença em idades aumentava. Entre os caracteres de necropsia, os pesos corporal e do coxim gorduroso reprodutor mostraram alta correlação genética. A maioria das outras correlações genéticas foram pequenas ou moderadas. O intercruzamento entre cepas procriadas por endogamia de camundongos SM/J e LG/J constituem fonte valiosa para o mapeamento de loci de caracteres quantitativos para o tamanho corporal e sua composição e morfologia.

Strain intercross experiments provide a powerful means for mapping genes affecting complex quantitative traits. We report on the genetic variability of the intercross of the Large (LG/J) and Small (SM/J) inbred mouse strains as a guide to gene mapping studies. Ten SM/J males were crossed to 10 LG/J females, after which animals were randomly mated to produce F1, F2, and F3 intercross generations. The 1632 F3 animals from 200 full-sib families were used to estimate heritabilities and genetic correlations of the traits measured. A subset of families was cross-fostered at birth to allow measurement of the importance of post-natal maternal effects. Data was collected on weekly body weight from one to 10 weeks and on organ weights, body weight, reproductive fat pad weight, and tail length at necropsy in the intercross generations. There was no heterosis for age-specific weights or necropsy traits, except that one-week weight was the highest in the F2 generation, indicating heterosis for maternal effect in the F1 mothers. We found moderate to high heritability for most age-specific weights and necropsy traits. Maternal effects were significant for age-specific weights from one to four weeks but disappeared completely at ten-week weight. Maternal effects for necropsy traits were low and not statistically significant. Age-specific weights showed a typical correlation pattern, with correlation declining as the difference in ages increased. Among necropsy traits, reproductive fat pad and body weights were very highly genetically correlated. Most other genetic correlations were low to moderate. The intercross between SM/J and LG/J inbred mouse strains provides a valuable resource for mapping quantitative trait loci for body size, composition, and morphology