Conclusions
The present study acknowledges that among the used methods, the flow cytometry's performance is the most appropriate, but slot blotting, with acceptable sensitivity, can be used as an acceptable and convenient procedure for platelet antibody screening.
Methods
Sera from 118 patients who received blood components and were clinically suspected of platelet refractoriness were enrolled. Platelet-reactive antibodies were explored in parallel by SB, FC and monoclonal antibody-specific immobilization of platelet antigens (MAIPA) techniques. In a further study, chloroquine-treated platelets were incubated with MAIPA-positive serum, and then, the
Results
Using MAIPA as a reference, antibodies were detected in 51 sera, with specificity for human leucocyte antigens (HLA), human platelet antigens (HPA) or both HLA/HPA, in 27, 18 and 6 patients, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of SB and FC were 86·3%, 88·1%, 82·4% and 95·5%, respectively. The Spearman correlation revealed significant (P < 0·001) correlations between FC (r = 0·763) and SB (r = 0·738) with MAIPA. In respect to HPA antibody detection, SB had 83·3% sensitivity and 92·6% specificity compared to 91·7% and 96·3% for FC while both approaches are acceptable (P < 0·001, r = 0·69; P < 0·001, r = 0·773) and can be recommended. Conclusions: The present study acknowledges that among the used methods, the flow cytometry's performance is the most appropriate, but slot blotting, with acceptable sensitivity, can be used as an acceptable and convenient procedure for platelet antibody screening.