Micropool procedure for routine donor antibody detection

Microplate technology was combined with manual sample pooling techniques to determine if advantages associated with each method could be realized in a single test system. Fresh serum and plasma samples collected from routine blood donors and patient samples selected from frozen storage were screened for significant, unexpected antibodies. A total of 94 samples with known antibody specificities were selected for testing. Two micropool techniques, stream-micropool and mix-micropool, were compared to a pooled-tube method. The stream-micropool method proved superior in overall detection of the antibodies (85%) and in detection of the macroscopically reactive antibodies (96%). Special formulas were used to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency of each micropool method. The sensitivity of the streammicropool method was 96 percent and that of the mix-micropool, 87 percent. For both methods, specificity and efficiency were ≥ 99 percent. In a separate study, there was no difference between the use of serum as opposed to plasma. Micropool methods offer a sensitive, easily mastered alternative to manual tube testing techniques for large batch donor antibody detection.