Interferences from blood collection tube components on clinical chemistry assays

Abstract

Improper design or use of blood collection devices can adversely affect the accuracy of laboratory test results. Vascular access devices, such as catheters and needles, exert shear forces during blood flow, which creates a predisposition to cell lysis. Components from blood collection tubes, such as stoppers, lubricants, surfactants, and separator gels, can leach into specimens and/or adsorb analytes from a specimen; special tube additives may also alter analyte stability. Because of these interactions with blood specimens, blood collection devices are a potential source of pre-analytical error in laboratory testing. Accurate laboratory testing requires an understanding of the complex interactions between collection devices and blood specimens. Manufacturers, vendors, and clinical laboratorians must consider the pre-analytical challenges in laboratory testing. Although other authors have described the effects of endogenous substances on clinical assay results, the effects/impact of blood collection tube additives and components have not been well systematically described or explained. This review aims to identify and describe blood collection tube additives and their components and the strategies used to minimize their effects on clinical chemistry assays.

Sample processing obscures cancer-specific alterations in leukemic transcriptomes

“…Nonetheless, previous reports suggest that sample-intrinsic artifacts are likely important to consider when interpreting genomics data. For example, blood collection procedures and the choice of anticoagulant can impact subsequent clinical chemistry assays or affect hematological parameters such as cell number and morphology (6,7). Similarly, blood shipping temperature and the timing of sample processing can affect levels of protein-based biomarkers and other analytes in plasma or serum, alter the transcription (e.g., IL8, IL10, CCR2, SOCS2, or JUN) or splicing (e.g., NF1, PTEN, or ATM) of specific genes, or cause globally decreased/increased transcription or accelerated RNA degradation, depending upon conditions (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15).…”

Serum and Urine Copper – Contamination and Stability

“…Our fi ndings provided evidence that specialised BD Trace Element tubes have no advantage over BD Serum Separator tubes in regard to possible contamination risk in routine serum Cu measurement by FAAS. BD Serum Separator tubes are easy to use, require short processing times, yield higher serum levels, limit hazardous aerosolization, require only one centrifugation step, allow primary tube sampling, and require a single label [4]. Their use suggests possible lowering of fi nancial costs for serum Cu tests.…”

“…Their use suggests possible lowering of fi nancial costs for serum Cu tests. In the choice of vacutainers for trace analysis, the following should be considered: vacutainers absolutely clean with no risk for contamination do not exist in reality; vacutainers are not a subject of preliminary cleaning with specialized procedures; the material of tubes toppers and the type of anticoagulant, blood volume to be drawn; separation of the serum from the blood cells [4,13].…”

“…Stability of one analyte in biological specimens is associated with ability to maintain the initially measured value within specifi ed limits over period of time under specifi c storage conditions. Analyte concentration could be altered by contamination from airborne sources and container material or container-solution interactions (leaching, adsorption, chemical reactions), water and reagent purity, exposition by skin and clothes of patients and medical staff, too [4,13]. The level of the analyte could be affected also by change in the biological matrix itself because of protein denaturation, bacterial growth, pH change or photochemical reactions.…”

Enhancing translational research in paediatric rheumatology through standardization

“…Blood collection tubes (BCTs) have multiple components, all of which can affect the quality of the biospecimen and/or the performance of downstream assays. 28 Different BCTs affect performance of multiple downstream assays including cytokine measurements by immunoassay to functional assays with PBMCs. Supplementary Table 1 summarizes the pre-analytical variability associated with BCTs and the advantages and special considerations associated with different BCTs.…”