Suspension medium for red blood cells comprising amino acids

1. A suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells, comprising phosphate buffer, sodium chloride, glucose, adenine, at least one preservative, EDTA and glycine and a combination of two or more amino acids of any group, wherein the amino acids other than glycine are present in a concentration of 0.50 to 6.48 g/l resulting in a total osmolality of between about 100-700 milliosmol/kg for the suspension medium or diluent solution and the combination of two or more amino acids other than glycine in the suspension medium or diluent solution reduces the loss of specificity and non-specific retention of the reagent red blood cells, and maintains the integrity and functionality of the reagent blood cells.

2. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claims 1 further comprising inosine, citrate, citric acid and bicarbonate.

3. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of two or more amino acids comprises a combination of aliphatic amino acids.

4. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 3 , wherein the combination of aliphatic amino acids is selected from the group consisting of: L-alanine, L-valine, L-leucine and L-isoleucine.

5. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of two or more amino acids is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic amino acids, aromatic amino acids and amino acids which contain sulphur.

6. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 5 , wherein the combination comprises a combination of aliphatic amino acids and amino acids selected from the group consisting of: L-phenylalanine, L-tyrosine, L-tryptophan, L-methionine and L-cysteine.

7. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of two or more amino acids comprises: L-valine, L-methionine, L-leucine, and L-isoleucine.

8. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of two or more amino acids comprises a combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic amino acids.

9. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of two or more amino acids comprises a combination of aliphatic amino acids and amino acids selected from the group consisting of chargeless, positively charged and negatively charged polar amino acids.

10. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 9 , wherein the combination of two or more amino acids comprises a combination of aliphatic amino acids and of the amino acids: L-serine, L-threonine, L-cysteine, L-methionine, L-asparagine, L-glutamine, L-lysine, L-arginine, L-histidine, L-aspartic acid and L-glutamic acid.

11. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of two or more amino acids comprises a combination of aliphatic amino acids, and of polar, neutral or charged amino acids (positive and/or negative), and aromatic amino acids.

12. The suspension medium or diluent solution for reagent red blood cells according to claim 1 , wherein the combination of two or more amino acids comprises a combination of non-polar and polar amino acids.

13. A method for preserving red blood cells comprising mixing a red blood cell sample in the suspension medium or diluent solution of claim 1 , thereby preserving the red blood cells in the sample as a hematological reagent for at least 8 weeks.