Actual approaches to the transportation of biological samples at low temperatures

Abstract

Taking into account the impact of shipment method of biosamples is necessary for obtaining high-quality biological samples in biobanking and laboratory research. The impact of liquid nitrogen, dry ice and cold accumulators on the quality of biological markers was considered, as well as recommendations to reduce the impact of these methods of shipment. The liquid nitrogen provides the best preservation of samples, however, dry ice is used much more often during their transportation. When transporting certain types of cells using dry ice, there is the way to use CryoStor CS1 and Cell Banker 1 cryoprotectors. The dry ice has a significant effect on both the pH of liquid biological samples and the coagulological parameters of plasma samples. The penetration of CO2 into the sample leads to changes in the parameters of PTT and APPT, as well as to decrease the protein C and fibrinogen level under certain conditions. Serum and plasma samples exposed to dry ice for more than 16 hours should be thawed open at room temperature, or instead of it should be kept at -80 °C for 24 hours to avoid changes in coagulation parameters, The use of cold accumulators is unacceptable for long-term shipment of serum and plasma containing unstable biomarkers because of insufficiently low temperature (increase over time to -25 °C and above). Besides, metal pellets can be used as cold storage batteries at low temperatures (up to -80 ° C), but they are not as effective as dry ice, since it is able to hold the required temperature for much longer.

Using the sanitation safety planning tool to improve the occupational health and safety of de-sludging operators in Uganda: a protocol for a controlled before and after study

“…All environmental samples will aseptically be collected and placed in a sterile Whirl Pak bag (Nasco, Modesto, CA), filled with 500 ml of distilled water. Transportation of all environmental samples to the laboratory for analysis will occur within 4 hours, and on ice to reduce the risk of degradation [33, 34]. At the laboratory, swabs will be washed in 10 ml of Phosphate-buffered saline by vortexing, followed by 10-fold serial dilutions.…”

Assessing DESS solution for the long-term preservation of nematodes from faecal samples

“…Other alternatives, such as plastination based on substituting body water for artificial polymers, is an expensive method that preserves microscopic structures, but DNA is totally degraded (Gonzálvez et al, 2018). Refrigerating or freezing samples that are combined or not with preserver solutions is also recommended for preserving samples, but is sometimes impractical under non-laboratory conditions (Kozlova et al, 2020). Other promising options are to use saturated solutions composed of dimethyl sulphoxide, disodium EDTA and saturated NaCl (hereinafter DESS), which have been successfully tested to preserve adult nematodes and their DNA for at least 1 year (Bik et al, 2009;Chałańska et al, 2016;Yoder et al, 2006).…”