Plasma and Serum
EDTA or sodium citrate treated plasma or serum samples are used. Do not use haemolytic or lipemic samples.
Storage: up to 6 hours at 2 - 8°C; for longer periods (up to 6 months) at - 80°C. Repeated freezing and thawing should be avoided for many analytes. Thus, storing samples in appropriate number of aliquots is important upon blood sample collection and plasma storage.
Urine
Spot urine or 24-hour urine samples can be used. Storage: for longer periods (up to 6 months) at -80°C. Repeated freezing and thawing should be avoided. Avoid exposure to direct sunlight.
Saliva
Collect Sailva using a collection device such as a Salivette or equivalent. Assay immediately or aliquot and store at -20 degrees Celsius or greater. Avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles.
Cellular prep
EDTA or heparin treated whole blood cells or isolated/enriched cellular preps (e.g., peripheral blood mononuclear cells) are used for cellular analyses using flow cytometry. Freshly collected blood or isolated cells are the most ideal, but cryopreserved cells can be analyzed using flow cytometry based on the cellular markers of interest.