Plasma Processing

Acceptable Tube Types
  • Purple top tube (EDTA anti-coagulant). Commonly 4.0 or 10mL volume tubes for collection of whole blood.
  • Green top tube (lithium heparin anti-coagulant). Commonly 4.0, 5.0 or 10mL tube.
  • Green top tube with serum separator gel (lithium heparin anti-coagulant). Commonly 5.0 or 10.0mL volume.
  • Blue top tube (sodium citrate anti-coagulant. Commonly 3.0, 5.0 or 10mL tubes for collection of whole blood. Used primarily for coagulation testing.
  • Yellow top tube (ACD, acid-citrate-dextrose anti-coagulant). Uncommon sample, but often received as 10mL tube.
Standard Procedure
  • Spin at 3000rpm for 10 minutes at room temperature (25*C).
  • Use a sterile pipette to transfer plasma to a pour-off tube. Do not contact the buffy-coat layer overlying the packed red cells.
  • Cap the aliquot tube, record sample/volume in Crimson application and label.
Variations (added per request to study protocol).
  • Spin time: Can be modified from 10 minutes.
  • Spin temperature: Can be modified from 25*C (4*C-42*C).
  • Storage conditions: ambient, 4*C, -20*C, -80*C.
  • Aliquotting: Can request >1 aliquot in other tube type. Available tube types include the following:
    • Eppendorf tubes: 0.6mL, 1.8mL, slim tube.
    • Screw capped tubes: 0.6mL, 2.0mL, 10mL.
    • Cryovials: specify volume, size (1″, 2″).