Blood samples that are drawn out from a patient for analysis need to be examined or refrigerated immediately because the biomarkers crucial for identifying diseases could be destroyed by enzymes in the blood or ambient heat.
Researchers, however, have come up with an innovative way to store samples for later analysis without the need to place them on ice. The system involves use of silkworm cocoons.
Jonathan Kluge from Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company Vaxess Technologies and colleagues mixed silk fibroin, a protein extracted from silkworm cocoons, with blood and air-dried the mixture before storing this at temperatures ranging between 22 and 45 degrees Celsius.
Although there are other alternative ways to collect and store blood samples such as drying them on paper cards, these methods fail to effectively protect the biomarkers in the blood from getting damaged by heat and humidity.
The technique with silk fibroin, however, appears promising. Researchers were able to retrieve and analyze the encapsulated blood samples by dissolving the films in water. Kluge said that the biomarkers can still be successfully analyzed even after the blood samples were stored for 84 days at 45 degrees Celsius.
"Encapsulation of samples in silk provided better protection than the traditional approach of drying on paper, especially at these elevated temperatures which a shipment might encounter during overseas or summer transport," Kluge said.
The technique offers broad applications in the field of research and clinical care that depend on accurate analysis of biofluids. The researchers said that the approach can help with outpatient blood collection for screening and monitoring diseases among underserved population.
The technique can also prove helpful to researchers who do not have access to centralized testing facilities albeit the technique is still in its preliminary development stages.
"Herein we describe an alternative silk matrix encapsulation technique that overcomes these limitations and can be deployed using a simple air-drying approach," the researchers wrote in their study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Potential clinical and research applications of this technology are far-reaching, and could ultimately decrease hospital burdens, improve patient compliance to monitoring, and open up new testing options for currently underserved populations."
