Notice of Availability of Specimens from Two Blood Donor Biorepository Collections


Notice Number: NOT-HL-13-174


Key Dates

Release Date: March 25, 2013

Issued by

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Purpose

This Notice from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is to announce the availability of specimens collected from two Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study population-based biorepository collections: the General Serum Repository (GSR) and General Leukocyte Plasma Repository (GLPR). These collections have supported over 17 original articles between 1993-2006 on transfusion-transmitted agents. The major agents studied were Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Human Herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8).

The GSR was collected between 1991 and 1994 and consists of serum from 508,151 blood donations. The GLPR was collected in 1994 and 1995 and consists of aliquots of plasma, and whole blood, frozen with or without DMSO, obtained from 147,915 blood donations. Donations came from five blood centers: the American Red Cross Greater Chesapeake and Potomac (Baltimore, MD; and Washington, DC), Southeastern Michigan (Detroit, MI), and Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) regions; the Blood Centers of the Pacific (BCP; San Francisco, CA); and the Oklahoma Blood Institute (Oklahoma City, OK). Specimens for both the GSR and the GLPR repositories were collected according to a statistical sampling plan designed to obtain donations that are representative of the five blood centers racial/ethnic groups. Donor screening and testing was performed according to blood center’s standard operating procedures and included tests for anti-HIV (types 1 and 2 after March 1992), anti-HCV, anti-HTLV, HBsAg and anti-HBc, serologic testing for syphilis, and testing for ALT levels.

The samples are de-identified and approximately 30% of the biospecimens are available to qualified investigators for research related to transfusion safety and 70% are available for general research.

A full description of the GSR and GLPR studies and how to apply for samples online is available on the NHLBI Biologic Specimen and Data Repositories Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC) website. Samples are released to qualified investigators with funding to perform the research. There is no cost to the investigator other than the cost of shipping the biospecimens to the research laboratory. Funds to perform research using these biospecimens may be obtained from federal or non-federal sources. Examples of NIH funding opportunities include NIH Research Project Grant Program (R01), PAR-13-026 NHLBI Selected Topics in Transfusion Medicine (R01), PAR-13-025 NHLBI Selected Topics in Transfusion Medicine (R21),and NHLBI SBIR/STTR Funding Opportunities.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Elizabeth Wagner, NHLBI BioLINCC Contracting Officer's Representative
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
6701 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-7902
Telephone: 301-435-0065
Email: wagnere@nhlbi.nih.gov
Website: www.biolincc.nhlbi.nih.gov