Specimen Requirements

 Serum, with or without gel barrier
Draw blood in a red or gold-top serum tube. Hemolyzed specimen is not acceptable. Spin down within 2 hours of collection and send 1 mL of serum refrigerated in original tube. If not in a gel barrier tube, seperate serum into a plastic aliquot tube to remove from cells.

Lithium heparin plasma may be utilized with Core Management Team approval, but is not preferred and should be avoided when possible in favor of serum sample analysis.