Should the serum separation gel coagulation tube shake?

Release time:

2020-11-17


The serum separation gel coagulation accelerator tube is a vacuum blood collection tube with serum separation gel and blood coagulant added. It can usually obtain a better serum sample than the naturally coagulated blood collection tube, and the coagulation time is greatly shortened, and the experimental operation efficiency is significantly improved. So do you need to shake the coagulant in the tube to better mix with the blood?

In fact, it is best not to shake the blood collection tube. After all, if it is shaken and mixed, the strength is not easy to control. If it is too light, it will not achieve the purpose of mixing. Severe shaking may damage blood cells and cause hemolysis. The correct method of operation should be to gently turn the blood collection tube upside down 5-8 times after sampling, so as to achieve the purpose of uniform mixing of the coagulant and blood.

Blood cells are very fragile. Blood cells account for about 45% of the blood volume, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Among them, white blood cells only account for 0.1-0.2% of whole blood, and platelets only account for 0.5-1% of whole blood, which means that about 99% of blood cells are red blood cells.

Fragile red blood cells in the separation gel coagulation tube

The diameter is 6-9.5μm, with an average of 7.2μm. It is in the shape of a double-concave disc. The center is thin (1.0μm) and the periphery is thick (2.0μm). Therefore, in blood smear specimens, the central staining is lighter and the periphery is darker. No nucleus. Under the scanning electron microscope, the morphological characteristics of red blood cells can be clearly displayed. This morphology of red blood cells makes it have a large surface area (about 140μm2), which can adapt to its function to the maximum extent-carrying O2. Fresh single red blood cells are yellow-green, a large number of red blood cells make the blood scarlet, and multiple red blood cells are often stacked together to form a bunch of money, called red blood cell line.

Red blood cells have a certain degree of elasticity and plasticity, and they can change shape when they pass through capillaries. Mature red blood cells have no nucleus or organelles, and their cytoplasm is full of hemoglobin (Hb). The average life span of red blood cells is about 120 days. Although aging red blood cells have no morphological specificity, their functional activities and physical and chemical properties have changed, such as reduced enzyme activity, hemoglobin denaturation, increased cell membrane fragility, and changes in surface charge, so the ability of cells to bind to oxygen is reduced and Easy to break. The senescent red blood cells are mostly swallowed by macrophages in the spleen, bone marrow and liver. At the same time, the same number of red blood cells are produced and released from the red bone marrow into the peripheral blood, maintaining a relatively constant number of red blood cells.

It can be seen that red blood cells account for the vast majority of blood cells, and whether it is mature red blood cells or aging red blood cells, they are very fragile. According to Desheng’s experience in the blood collection tube industry, hemolysis is the most common cause of damage to blood samples. Therefore, you must be careful when handling blood samples in blood collection tubes.