Expanded feasibility of ferritin testing: stability of ferritin stored as whole blood and validation of plastic tubes.

Background: Ferritin testing is a recommended strategy to mitigate iron depletion in blood donors. A barrier for some testing platforms is a requirement to complete sample management and testing within a temporal window incompatible with the logistics of many blood collectors. The ability to delay separation of plasma/serum from red cells and subsequent testing would enhance the feasibility of ferritin testing on a broader scale.

Study Design And Methods: Thirty blood donors provided a research donation of 12, 4-mL sample tubes of whole blood. Six pairs of serum and K -EDTA-plasma tubes were centrifuged and samples tested in triplicate on day of collection and on each of the next 5 days following storage at 4°C. Comparison of ferritin values for serum versus K -EDTA-plasma at baseline was performed to validate plastic EDTA-containing tubes. Variation of ferritin values during storage was assessed for direction and strength of any detectable changes.

Results: Ferritin values were comparable between EDTA-plasma and serum, with baseline values from EDTA-plasma samples 7% lower on average than serum (p < 0.0001 by paired t-test). Variability over five storage days was within approved parameters in the manufacturer's instructions. Within-run precision averaged 2% to 3% for each test day and within-subject precision across all samples averaged less than 5% for both serum and EDTA-plasma. Repeated measures showed no difference in changes during storage by tube type or day of testing.

Conclusion: These results support flexible testing procedures, expanding the opportunity for blood centers to adopt this measure for assessing donor iron status.