In the field of medical testing, serum and plasma are extremely important test samples that contain key information about human health status. With the help of serum separation tubing, these two types of samples can be quickly obtained. Although serum and plasma may appear as light yellow transparent liquids at first glance, their inherent differences are significant and have significant implications for clinical diagnosis and medical research.

serum separation gel

Compositional differences

1. Presence or absence of fibrinogen: Plasma contains fibrinogen, a protein synthesized by the liver with coagulation function. When the human body is injured and bleeding, fibrinogen will be converted into insoluble fibrin under the action of thrombin, interweaving into a network, promoting blood coagulation, and playing a key role in stopping bleeding. In sharp contrast, serum does not contain fibrinogen. This is because in the process of serum preparation, blood undergoes natural coagulation, and fibrinogen is consumed during the coagulation process, converted into fibrin to participate in the formation of blood clots. The separated serum does not contain this substance.

2. Differences in other coagulation factors: In addition to fibrinogen, plasma also contains various coagulation factors, such as coagulation factor II (prothrombin), coagulation factor V, coagulation factor VII, etc. These coagulation factors jointly participate in the human body's coagulation cascade reaction, ensuring the smooth progress of hemostasis. During the process of blood coagulation, some coagulation factors in serum are consumed or undergo structural and functional changes. Compared to plasma, the types and levels of coagulation factors in serum are different. This difference makes plasma more suitable for coagulation function related testing items, such as prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), etc.

Serum preparation

After injecting the collected blood into the serum separation tube, let it naturally stand at room temperature for a period of time to allow the blood to coagulate on its own. During the process of blood coagulation, platelets aggregate and fibrinogen is converted into fibrin, which forms a blood clot in the blood cell network. Subsequently, through centrifugal separation, the blood clot sank to the bottom of the tube, and the upper layer of pale yellow transparent liquid was serum.

Clinical application differences

1. The clinical application of plasma: Plasma plays an important role in the detection of coagulation function due to its complete retention of coagulation factors and other components. Commonly used for the detection of some biochemical indicators, such as blood glucose, blood lipids, electrolytes, etc., these test results play an important role in evaluating the metabolic status of patients.

2. The clinical application of serum: As serum does not contain substances such as fibrinogen that may interfere with immune responses, it can more accurately detect various antibodies and antigens. For example, in the diagnosis of infectious diseases, the detection of pathogen specific antibodies in serum can determine whether patients are infected with corresponding pathogens, such as the five tests of hepatitis B. In the detection of cancer biomarkers, serum is also a commonly used sample type. By detecting the content of biomarkers such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and alpha fetoprotein (AFP) in serum, it is helpful for early diagnosis, disease monitoring, and prognosis evaluation of cancer.

Stability difference

1. Stability of plasma: The coagulation factors and other components in plasma are relatively unstable in the in vitro environment, especially when conditions such as temperature and pH change, the activity of coagulation factors may be affected. Therefore, plasma samples should be tested as soon as possible after collection. If they cannot be tested in a timely manner, they should be stored at a specific temperature and not for too long, usually not exceeding 24 hours. Otherwise, certain components in the plasma may undergo degradation or activity changes, affecting the accuracy of the test results.

2. Stability of serum: Compared to plasma, the stability of serum is relatively better. After collecting serum samples, they can be stored for 3-5 days in refrigerated storage. If long-term storage is required, they can be placed in a lower temperature freezing environment. However, even so, there may be slight changes in some components of serum samples during storage, so attention should still be paid to the storage time and conditions of the samples when conducting testing.

Product packaging

As a manufacturer of blood collection tube additives, Hubei Xindesheng supplies advantageous serum separation gel, coagulants, anticoagulants and other products. Its serum separation gel has good stability and separation effect, and can accurately achieve the separation of serum and blood cells. Coagulants can quickly accelerate blood clotting and improve detection efficiency. The company strictly controls quality, following standards at every step from raw material screening to finished product delivery. If you have purchasing intentions, please feel free to consult at any time!