Indigenous development of antibody screening cell panels at Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion (AFIT).
OBJECTIVE
To prepare good quality screening cells reagent according to the standards, at Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion (AFIT).


METHODS
Random group O donors, seronegative for HBsAg, HCV and HIV were selected if they resided in Rawalpindi or Islamabad and could be contacted. Micro column Gel technique was used to find out R1R1, R1wr, R2R2 and rr phenotypes with or without K antigen. Repeat sample of these donors were phenotyped for minimum antigens required for reagent cells. Teams of three donors each were made on the basis of Rh, K antigens and homozygosity for E, Fya, Fyb, Jka, Jkb, S, and s antigens. The selected cells were added to preservative suspension containing neomycin and chloramphenicol and dispensed as 8% solution and labeled. Cells were submitted to quality control testing for 35 days shelf life and efficacy was compared with commercial cells.


RESULTS
The cells of required phenotype were prepared according to UK guidelines and AABB standards with minor exceptions. Reagent cells had excellent quality confirmed by many quality control procedures and were comparable to commercial cells in efficacy. The cost saving was significant.


CONCLUSIONS
AFIT can introduce type and screen policy and Maximum Surgical Blood Ordering Schedule using indigenously prepared cells, of good quality and at an affordable price. This will enhance serological safety of recipients and brings AFIT near to adopting standard practice of pretransfusion testing.
Salamat
Nuzhat
N
Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Bhatti
Farhat Abbas
FA
Yaqub
Mohammad
M
Hafeez
Mohammad
M
Hussain
Altaf
A
Ziaullah
D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000592:standards*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006772:Hospitals, Military; D006801:Humans; D010154:Pakistan; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D001323:Autoantibodies