TokuKit: Blood Volume Impact on Preserving Immune Cell Populations

Even when clinical sites preserve too little or too much blood with TokuKit, immune cell populations across volumes are well preserved.

Sneak peek at some of our findings:

Lower blood volumes preserved immune cell populations

0.5 mL of whole blood fixed with TokuKit preserved immune cell populations, with 95% of population frequencies falling within a –2 to +2% change from baseline (2mL).

Higher blood volumes preserved immune cell populations

3mL of whole blood fixed with TokuKit preserved immune cell populations, with 95% of population frequencies falling within a –0.91 to +0.66% change from baseline (2mL).

Download the results here

Experimental Design

Evaluation of blood collection across different volume sizes.

Sample Collection:

Whole blood was collected from 3 healthy donors and aliquoted into 4 different volumes in EDTA tubes and preserved with TokuKit.

Timeline

Samples were processed at T = 0 and analyzed immediately after.

Red Blood Cell Lysis

Since TokuKit contains its own lysis buffer, no additional ACK or BD lysis step was required.

Panel Design

A 25-marker spectral flow cytometry panel was applied to assess the immune cell populations visualized in the gating strategy below.

Instrument

Cytometry analysis was performed on a Cytek® Aurora.

Why does sample preservation matter for your team?

Degradation distorts patient immune profiles

When preservation methods degrade or introduce artifacts, immune profiles shift, creating results that reflect preservation instability rather than a patient's true biology.

Failed samples waste time and budget

Degraded samples often fail QC, requiring costly redraws, repeat shipments, and delays in data delivery.

Inconsistencies undermine PD insights

Differences in how long samples sit before processing introduce noise, making it harder to detect real pharmacodynamic signals, mechanism of action, or biomarkers of response.

Want to learn more?

Ask us about the results of our TokuKit blood volume study—and what studies with TokuKit are coming next.

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