Multiplate® TI – Thrombin Inhibitor Blood Collection Tube

DISCONTINUED – REPLACEMENT: MP0600

Multiplate® TI – Thrombin Inhibitor Blood Collection Tube is blood collection system (micro tube with screw cap) for use in platelet aggregation studies with the Multiplate® platelet function analyzer to evaluate qualitative platelet disorders at physiological calcium conditions. Hirudin, a thrombin inhibitor allows anticoagulation of blood without interference with physiological calcium levels.

During the early phase of Multiplate® development, citrated blood (either 3.2% or 3.8%) was used for the sample collection. It was observed that subjects did not aggregate properly, particularly with ADP as agonist. Citrate complexes calcium and thereby prevents clotting of the sample. However, calcium is also an important second messenger for platelet aggregation. For a full shape change and full exposure of receptors on the platelet surface, the release of calcium from the intracellular stores is necessary. The best solution for this problem is to use an anticoagulant which does not affect the free calcium concentration in the sample, ideally hirudin (a direct thrombin inhibitor). Heparin has some activating properties on platelets; therefore, the use of hirudin blood is preferred. To reduce the influence of calcium depletion by citrate, a partial recalcification using the NaCl/CaCl2 diluent solution is used. The partial recalcification can lead to a disaggregation phenomenon in the ASPItest and RISTOtest. For these tests, 0.9% saline is used when testing citrated blood.