Procedures for blood specimens sampling, storage and shipment Sample Clauses

Procedures for blood specimens sampling, storage and shipment. In order to standardize the procedure for collection of biological samples, a well defined protocol containing the detailed procedure for blood sample withdrawn, pre-analytical treatment, storage and shipment will be prepared by P1-CNR within the first 2 months. All the participating centres will receive this document which has to be strictly followed. The pre-analytical handling of the haematic samples is of pivotal importance for reliable determination of the chosen biomarkers, specifically for the molecules with problems of stability over time. Thus, a tight control of the schedule of the different steps of sample management will be recommended for the more sensitive parameters. In particular, the protocol will contain the instruction relative to 1. Patient conditions at the blood withdrawing (i.e.: time of fasting); 2. Conditions for blood collection (i.e.: kind and number of tubes, kind of anti-coagulant, volume of blood to be withdrawn, the need to keep the samples at 4°C in an ice bath); 3. Plasma or serum preparation (conditions for blood centrifugation); 4. Number and size of aliquots; 5. Labelling (allowing sample identification and anonymization); 6. Storage conditions; 7. Conditions for shipping to P1-CNR for specific assays.