title: Six-day stability of erythrocyte and reticulocyte parameters in-vitro: a comparison of blood samples from healthy, iron-deficient, and thalassemic individuals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stability for up to 6 days' storage of erythrocyte and reticulocyte parameters in samples from iron-deficient and thalassemic individuals has not yet been reported. This lack of knowledge challenges evaluation of the full blood count in referral samples for hemoglobinopathy evaluation. We therefore hereby present such sample stability data.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included fresh (less than 4 hours old) blood samples from eight healthy, eight iron-deficient, and 11 thalassemic individuals. A full blood count, including reticulocyte parameters, was performed on a Sysmex XE-2100 once daily during a 6-day storage period at room temperature. For healthy individuals, we also studied stability of refrigerated samples and investigated analytical and biological variation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hemoglobin concentration, erythrocyte count, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin were stable for 6 days in all diagnostic groups. Mean corpuscular volume increased less in samples from iron-deficient individuals while the number of reticulocytes increased more in samples from thalassemic, as compared to healthy individuals. Ret-He stability depended on its baseline value. Within-person biological variation in samples from healthy individuals was low both for erythrocyte parameters and for reticulocyte hemoglobin, while higher for reticulocyte counts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results for hemoglobin concentration, erythrocyte count, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin are reliable in hemoglobinopathy investigation of referred samples for up to 6 days. Storage time-dependent changes of other erythrocyte and reticulocyte parameters in blood samples from iron-deficient and thalassemic individuals differ from those of healthy individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Oslo University Hospital Ullevål, Norway & University of Oslo, Faculty of Medicine , Norway.
authors.forename: Åshild A
authors.initials: ÅA
authors.lastname: Sudmann-Day
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piehler
authors.forename: Olav
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Klingenberg
authors.forename: Petter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Urdal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D001793:Blood Preservation; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012156:Reticulocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Biological variation; hematology; hemoglobinopathies; iron-deficiency anemia; thalassemia