PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Rebolledo, Jesus
AU  - Fishburn, Alexander
AU  - Hill, Arren
AU  - Wortman, Sandy
AU  - Nicholaou, Matthew
AU  - Rhees, Justin R.
TI  - Polyagglutination: Lectin Isolation for T-Activated Red Cells
AID  - 10.29074/ascls.2020003147
DP  - 2024 Aug 21
TA  - American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
4099  - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/early/2024/08/21/ascls.2020003147.short
4100  - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/early/2024/08/21/ascls.2020003147.full
AB  - Polyagglutination (PA) is a rare condition that can occur during microbial infections where enzymes capable of modifying carbohydrates on the erythrocyte membrane are produced. These enzymes expose cryptantigens that react with naturally stimulated antibodies found in nearly all adult sera, except autologous sera. Certain lectins can agglutinate red blood cells (RBCs) carrying these cryptantigens. The agglutination patterns of test RBCs in lectin panels can provide presumptive evidence to identify major forms of PA. Lectin testing kit manufacturers within the United States have discontinued their production. However, immunohematology reference labs (IRLs) must continue offering PA testing under current Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies IRL Standards. Consequently, IRLs must adopt unapproved storage methods for expired lectin kits or create lectin reagents in-house. Quality control (QC) RBCs evaluating lectin reagent performance are often from patients with PA and are difficult to obtain. This study describes a method to produce a lectin reagent and QC RBCs in-house to efficiently and cost-effectively identify the T-activated form of PA. Additionally, we report the results of a national survey disseminated to evaluate the current status of lectin testing procedures in IRLs.