A study performed on batches of serum albumin used as diluents in Rh testing. A report to the International Society of Blood Transfusion/International Committee for Standardization in Haematology by their albumin working party.

The paper reports the findings of a Working Party of the Joint International Committee of Standardization/International Society of Blood Transfusion on the Standardization of Blood Group Reagents. Thirteen samples of serum albumin, 11 bovine and two human, were examined by serological and physicochemical means. Batches of albumin tested were normally more efficient in causing agglutination of sensitized red cells than in aiding the uptake of Rh antibody, and those found satisfactory by manual techniques gave satisfactory results by automated methods. Reference is made to evidence for the existence of inhibitors of red cell agglutination which may account for lack of correlation noted between the dimer/polymer content of some samples and their efficiency in causing agglutination of sensitized red cells.