Evaluation of K-Med gel in blood grouping and antibody screening tests

Abstract

Immunohematological procedures are based on the interaction between red cell antigens and specific antibodies. Evidence for the in vitro formation of an antigen-antibody reaction is traditionally based on the visualization of agglutinates or the presence of hemolysis. The conventional tube test with an indirect antiglobulin test is considered as the gold standard for detecting hemagglutination. Currently, commercial gel tests are used to detect hemagglutination.  We aimed to evaluate our in-house developed gel (K-Med gel) against the conventional tube and commercial gel tests. To evaluate the specific gels, samples from 500 patients were tested for ABO and Rh(D) blood group and samples from 500 donated blood were tested for C, c, D, E and e antigens. The sensitivity of the neutral and antiglobulin gels were tested and compared to the commercial gels and the tube tests. The K-Med gel was used for antibody screening on 531 samples. The K-Med specific gel was able to identify ABO and Rh (CcDEe) blood groups as same results as the tube test did. Similarly, the sensitivity of the neutral and antiglobulin K-Med gel was as good as the commercial gels but higher than the tube method. In antibody screening test, 33 of 531 samples were positive. The gel test was able to detect clinically significant antibodies more frequently than the tube method (3 samples). While the tube method was able to detect non clinical significance antibodies more frequently than the gel test (4 samples). In conclusion, K-Med gel is recommended to be used for ABO and Rh blood grouping instead of using the tube method. The neutral and antiglobulin gel were able to detect the antibody-antigen reaction on red blood cells, especially the clinically significant antibodies. The K-Med gel can be applied for micro-plate system, which makes it easier to perform and less time consuming. It is also therefore suitable for routine testing in high work load laboratories.