Allogeneic adsorptions: a comparison of the traditional method with a modified PEG adsorption method

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the benefits of enhancing adsorptions with PEG. Allogeneic adsorptions were performed on 20 patient samples containing warm reactive autoantibodies with two volumes of adsorbing RBCs; results using unenhanced adsorptions were compared with those using PEG-enhanced adsorptions and with using untreated adsorbing RBCs and ficin-treated adsorbing RBCs. Two volumes of adsorbing RBCs, one volume of serum, and one volume of PEG were used. The number of adsorptions, average time saved, and presence or absence of underlying alloantibodies were compared for the two methods and types of adsorbing RBCs. Modified PEG-enhanced adsorptions resulted in a 69 percent decrease in adsorbing time. PEG adsorptions removed all autoantibodies and detected 18 of 19 underlying alloantibodies. The unenhanced method did not remove autoantibodies in two samples and identified only 15 of 19 underlying alloantibodies. As expected, reductions in the number of adsorptions and adsorbing time were observed. The modified-PEG adsorption is an improved method that may replace the current unenhanced method. Immunohematology2010;26:104–108.