TransFix^® - Animal Blood Stabilisation

TransFix^® can be used to stabilise whole blood from a wide range of different species including mouse, rat, guinea pig, sheep and pig. The volume of TransFix^® required varies from species to species and in some cases by breed.

The user must determine the optimal amount of TransFix^® required to stabilise a given volume of whole blood. Collect fresh animal blood in EDTA or another anti coagulant. Analyse the fresh blood sample by flow cytometry to establish a reference scatter plot.

Set up a range of TransFix^® dilutions starting with 0.05ml of TransFix^® per ml of whole blood, increasing in 0.05ml steps to 0.2ml. Mix well and store at 4°C for 10 days. After 10 days analyse the TransFix^® treated samples by flow cytometry using the same method as before.

The optimal dilution of TransFix^® for the animal species under examination is the concentration that gives the same scatter diagram as the fresh blood sample.