1. Aggregation assays are a commonly used technique for the study of granulocyte activation. These studies are usually performed using a pure cell suspension in buffer. This necessitates a separation procedure which is time-consuming and may modify the function of the cells. Interaction between different cell types is precluded. 2. To avoid these disadvantages a method was developed which quant...

Each year, 5 million regular donors meet almost half the transfusion needs of the United States by voluntarily giving their blood. In this issue of Transfusion, we learn how well the needs of these committed donors are being met from an analysis of enrollment data from the Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study-II (REDS-II) Donor Iron Status Evaluation (RISE) study of the National Heart, Lung, and...

The polarographic current of whole blood is in excess of that given by plasma at the same oxygen tension. The magnitude of this difference depends on (a) the oxygen content of the sample and thus is determined by the red blood cell content and by the state of oxygen saturation of hemoglobin, and (b) on the rate of dissociation of oxyhemoglobin and therefore is influenced by changes in pH, pCO(2...

In this issue of Clinical Chemistry, an electrochemical method is described for the simultaneous measurement of cadmium and lead in whole blood. Exposure to these toxic metals is an inevitable consequence of life in industrialized society. Blood Pb is currently measured, with little interlaboratory disagreement, by atomic absorption or electrochemical methods. In contrast, despite numerous atte...

A new instrument for the measurement of lactate in biological fluids, the Lactate Analyzer 640, has been evaluated. The method of use recommended by the manufacturer for blood samples was found to be inadequate. A new method of sample preparation for the instrument, based upon immediate haemolysis and fluoridation of blood, has been developed, allowing measurement of whole blood lactate concent...

The recent widespread interest in blood ammonia determinations in normal and abnormal clinical states (McDermott and Adams, 1954; Schwartz, Phillips, Gabuzda, and Davidson, 1953; White, Phear, Summerskill, and Sherlock, 1955), together with discrepant reports from various laboratories, have prompted a critical examination of the Conway microdiffusion technique in blood analysis. Method The meth...

1. It has been shown that the whole uncoagulated blood of immune animals is not as highly pneumococcidal in vitro, as has been claimed by others. 2. Cultures of pneumococci in the fresh whole blood of immune animals, as compared with cultures in the blood of susceptible animals, show a greatly prolonged latent period, and, in a general way, the relative lengths of the latent periods of the cult...

Experimental hypercalcaemia was induced in rats by (1) transplantation of the solid Walker 256 tumour, and (2) intraperitoneal injections of calcium gluconate. Whole blood clotting was studied by means of thromboelastography and whole blood clotting times in polystyrene and glass test tubes. At serum calcium levels between 10.3 and 11.5 m-equiv/l a slight delay in clot formation was found which...