Peripheral blood microvesicles secretion is influenced by storage time, temperature, and anticoagulants

Microvesicles (MVs) are small membrane bound vesicles released from various cell types after activation or apoptosis. In the last decades, MVs received an increased interest as biomarkers in inflammation, coagulation and cancer. However, standardized pre-analytical steps are crucial for the minimization of artifacts in the MV analysis. Thus, this study evaluated the MV release in whole blood samples under the influence of different anticoagulants, storage time and various temperature conditions. Samples were collected from healthy probands and processed immediately, after 4, 8, 24 and 48 hours at room temperature (RT) or 4°C. To identify MV subpopulations, platelet free plasma (PFP) was stained with Annexin V, calcein AM, CD15, CD41 and CD235a. Analysis was performend on a CytoFLEX flow cytometer. Procoagulatory function of MVs was measured using a phospholipid dependent activity and a tissue factor MVactivity assay. Without prior storage, sodium citrate showed the lowest MV count compared to heparin and EDTA. Interestingly, EDTA showed a significant release of myeloid-derived MVs (MMVs) compared to sodium citrate. Sodium citrate showed a stable MV count at RT in the first 8 hours after blood collection. Total MV counts increased after 24 hours in sodium citrated or heparinzed blood which was related to all subpopulations. Interestingly, EDTA showed stable platelet-derived MV (PMV) and erythrocyte-derived MV (EryMV) count at RT over a 48 h period. In addition, the procoagulatory potential increased significantly after 8-hour storage. Based on both, this work and literature data, the used anticoagulant, storage time and storage temperature differently influence the analysis of MVs within 8 hours. To date, sodium citrated tubes are recommended for MV enumeration and functional analysis. EDTA tubes might be an option for the clinical routine due to stable PMV and EryMV counts. These new approaches need to be validated in a clinical laboratory setting before being applied to patient studies. © 2016 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.