Background
It is not easy to find natural red blood cells (RBCs) with weak A (Aw ) or weak B phenotype (Bw ) for use as quality controls in ABO subgroup testing (subgrouping). The
Conclusion
Our kodecytes were useful as a survey material, and the survey results showed the necessity of materials for PT for subgrouping to improve the quality of laboratory analysis regardless of the different reactions according to the MoAb.
Methods
Three types of survey samples, including O phenotype RBCs and A kodecytes with Aw (0.02 mg/mL FSL-A solution) and B kodecytes with Bw (0.15 mg/mL FSL-B solution) were sent to 53 laboratories for an educational trial of PT for subgrouping. Cell typing was done using the manual tube technique.
Results
Forty-three laboratories responded, and the re-activities of the survey samples varied from 0 to 4+ against anti-A and anti-B monoclonal reagents(MoAbs). Twenty-nine laboratories (67%) correctly grouped the Bw kodecytes as Bw . Fifteen (35%), 21 (48%), and 6 (13%) laboratories grouped the Aw kodecytes as Aw , A2 , and O phenotypes, respectively. The anti-A MoAb clone affects the results of cell typing for Aw kodecytes. The stability of kodecytes was similar to that of natural O RBCs during storage.