title: Stability of athlete blood passport parameters during air freight.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fluctuations in ambient temperature and pressure, as well as physical jostling, may affect the stability of whole blood samples transported by air freight. The aim of this study was to characterize the stability of key blood variables during air freight and to investigate whether vibration or reduced pressure alone affected results.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over a 72-h interval, we evaluated the stability of full blood count indices (plus reticulocytes) in tubes that were air-freighted a total of 2, 10 and 28 h. We also examined the impact of 24 h of reduced atmospheric pressure (750 hpa or approximately 2500 m.a.s.l) and vibration (5 Hz). Samples were measured on a Sysmex XT-2000i instrument.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two key variables in the context of antidoping (haemoglobin concentration, reticulocytes) remained stable over a 72-h period regardless of the duration of air freight. Atmospheric pressure and vibration had no discernible effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whole blood samples stored in NanoCool devices can be relied upon to remain stable for at least 72 h despite interim air freight.
authors.affiliation: SIAB Research, Gold Coast, Australia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ashenden
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sharpe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Plowman
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Allbon
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lobigs
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baron
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Gore
mesh_terms: D000401:Aircraft; D056352:Athletes; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology; D004300:Doping in Sports; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012156:Reticulocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000592:standards*; D013997:Time Factors; D014732:Vibration
keywords: Stability; athlete biological passport; sysmex