METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INACTIVATING INFECTIOUS AGENTS IN AND RESISTING COAGULATION OF BIOLOGICAL FLUIDS

Abstract: A method and apparatus for inactivating infectious agents in and resisting coagulation of biological fluids comprising providing a blood collection tube that contains an amount of an antibody that inactivates infectious agents upon contact with the blood. Polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies, either alone or in combination, can be used. The anticoagulation material comprises a blood factor antibody which resists coagulation of the blood. This allows for analysis of certain blood constituents, such as blood gases and potassium.

Description: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INACTIVATING INFECTIOUS AGENTS IN AND RESISTING COAGULATION OF BIOLOGICAL FLUIDS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field Of The Invention: This invention relates to a method and apparatus for inactivating infectious agents in and resisting coagula¬ tion Of biological fluids, and more particularly to provid¬ ing antibodies in evacuated tubes before the biological fluid is introduced into the tube. 2. Description Of The Prior Art; In the evaluation and care of patients, it is often necessary to obtain blood samples. The routine pro¬ cedure for drawing blood from a patient requires a needle holder, a disposable needle, and multiple evacuated tubes. A disposable needle is attached to the holder, the needle is inserted into the patient's vein and the evacuated tube is inserted through the opposite end of the needle into the holder. The evacuated tube is then allowed to receive the derived quantity of blood. The tube is then removed and another may be employed, if desired. During the above process, the health care worker may be exposed to blood which drips from the end of the needle or may be injured by sticking the needle into his or her skin. In addition, the cap may accidentally come off of the tube or the tube may break, splashing the health care worker with blood. Laboratory workers, also, are exposed to the blood in the process of handling the blood filled tube and in disposing of the needle. If a patient's blood contains infectious agents, health care workers may be exposed to these infectious agents and thus are at risk of acquiring infection. The Center For Disease Control has estimated that 500 to 600 health care workers are hospitalized annually due to occupa- tionally acquired Hepatitis B Virus ("HBV"). U. S. Dept. of Labor and U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Joint Advisory Notice on Protection Against Occupational Exposure to HBV and HIV, pages 1-13 October 30, 1987. Of these, over 200 deaths resulted. Other infectious agents, such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus ("HIV"), Human T Lymphotropic Virus I ("HTLV I"), and Cytomegalovirus ("CMV") cause infections less often, but still pose a significant threat to the health care worker. It is known to provide a blood collection tube and method that attempts to disinfect infectious viral contami¬ nants instantaneously when the blood is taken. United States Patent No. 4,675,159 discloses using a disinfectant material, such as aldehyde (with gluteraldehyde being pre- ferred) , in connection with a blood collection tube. The amount of aldehyde based disinfectant positioned in the con¬ tainer is adjusted to provide an ultimate concentration of aldehyde in the blood specimen of about .1 to 2.5 percent by weight and is buffered to a pH of about 7.2 to 8.5 percent. The aldehyde based substances disinfect blood by cross- linking and/or polymerizing amino groups on the surface of the infectious agent. The problem with using aldehyde based substances is that the above-described polymerization distorts and destroys the structure and function of proteins. When used in biologic situations, a gluteraldehyde, for example, does not distinguish between the amino groups of infectious agents and the amino groups of the patient's blood and serum proteins. Ultimately, this cross-linking leads to coagula- tion which renders the blood sample unsuitable for routine processing. Also, the patient's altered proteins are unsuitable for analysis. Lowering of gluteraldehyde concentrations is not a solution because of the loss of ability to inactivate the infectious agents. Other disadvantages of aldehyde based disinfec¬ tants are that they are unstable and that they cannot be used with heparin. United States Patent No. 4,308,232 discloses an anticoagulant stopper coating which resists adherence of cells to the stopper. The coating consists of a blood anticoagulant, a binding agent layer, and an outer layer of silicone oil. United States Patent No. 3,890,955 discloses a vacuum indicator. A standard blood collection tube having a partial vacuum pressure and a needle for removing blood from a patient is provided. A material, which is coated on the tube, changes color to indicate when vacuum pressure is lost in the tube. United States Patent No. 3,901,219 discloses a blood collecting container and method consisting of a tube having a stopper and a piston barrier which holds a chemical which can be added to the collected blood. When blood is introduced into the tube, the piston barrier descends (Figure 2) until reaching constriction. Figure 3 illus¬ trates the apparatus with collected blood after it has been centrifuged. Despite these known apparatus and methods there still remains a need for an effective way to prevent acci¬ dental infection of health care workers. It is also desired, in evaluating blood constitu¬ ents such as blood gases and potassium, to obtain an anticoagulated specimen. It is known to add EDTA (or equivalent chemical agents such as oxylate and citrate) or heparin to the drawn blood to obtain an anticoagulated specimen. The EDTA chelates calcium ions. These calcium ions are necessary for the functioning of many of the blood clotting factors (factors II, V, VII, VIII, IX and X). By removing the calcium, the effective functioning of the blood clotting factors is inhibited and the blood does not clot. Heparin functions through interaction with Antithrombin III and binding to factors XII, XI, IX, X and II. The binding inhibits the functioning of the factors and resists coagula¬ tion. The problem with using chelating agents such as EDTA is that these cause water to leave cells and enter the plasma which causes mild dilution of the plasma. In addi¬ tion, chelating agents cannot be used for blood gas determi¬ nations and when ions, such as calcium, are desired to be measured. Heparin, which is a heterogenous mixture of linear and ionic polyelectrolytes, is not uniform in its effects. Heparin preparations have ranging solubilities and antico- agulative properties, and so must be used in excess to achieve reproducible coagulation. Heparin also precipitates fibronectin, a blood protein, which clogs the small orifices of blood gas instruments. Heparin binds calcium and there¬ fore is not suitable for ionized calcium determinations. Likewise, heparin may bind certain antibiotics such as aminoglycosides. Thus, there remains a need for a method and apparatus for inactivating infectious agents in and resisting coagulation of biological fluids. This method should not only effectively disinfect infectious agents, but also not adversely affect the other constituents of the particular biological fluid to be analyzed. There also remains a need for a method of resisting coagulation of biological fluids that can allow effective analysis of certain blood constituents such as blood gases and potassium. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The herein disclosed invention meets these needs. The method and apparatus for inactivating infectious agents in biological fluid samples involves providing a biological fluid tube having disposed therein a volume of antibodies. These antibodies react rapidly with the bio¬ logical fluid to inactivate the infectious agents therein as the biological fluid enters the tube. The antibody can be secured to the sides of the tube or can be contained on glass or nylon beads disposed in the tube, for example. After the biological fluid is introduced in the tube, the infectious agents will bind to the antibodies, thus reducing the chance the health care worker will be exposed to the infectious agent. The method and apparatus for resisting coagulation in a biological fluid involves adding an antibody c- -- 4 -- ' - bodies to a blood sample. These antibody or ant: an anticoagulative effect on the blood and thus would allow evaluation of certain blood constituents such as blood gases and potassium. It is an object of the invention to provide a biological fluid collection tube having disposed therein antibody or antibodies for the deactivation of infectious agents in patient drawn biological fluid. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus which will quickly and efficiently inactivate infectious agents while not having a significant effect on other blood constituents. It is a further object of the invention to provide several methods of providing the antibody or antibodies in the collection tube. It is a further object of the invention to provide a disinfectant method that may be used with a wide variety of anticoagulants and with silicone gel. It is a further object of the invention to provide that both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies can be used as the disinfectant agent. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of disinfecting blood in a tube which requires only minimal volumes of disinfectant to be used. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of resisting coagulation in a biological fluid by adding thereto a quantity of antibodies. It is a further object of the invention to provide an anticoagulative that does not interfere with the testing of the biological fluid. It is a further object of the invention to provide an antibody anticoagulative that has minimal chelating properties, negligible water shift, and low ionic concentra¬ tion. It is a further object of the invention to provide an antibody anticoagulative that is uniform and that does not react with fibronectin and calcium. It is a further object of the invention to provide an antibody anticoagulative that can assay blood gases, ionized calcium, potassium, aminoglycosides, antibiotics and cell numbers. It is a further object of the invention to provide an antibody anticoagulative that is easy to prepare, inex¬ pensive and that does not pose a chemical or biologic hazard to health care workers. These and other objects will become apparent from the description of the invention with reference to the drawings appended to this application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a blood, collection tube having an amount of an antibody disposed therein. Figure 2 shows a blood collection tube having an amount of an antibody and an amount of silicone gel disposed therein. Figure 3 shows a blood collection tube in which the antibodies are dried and coated on the inside surface of the blood collection tube. Figure 4 shows a blood collection tube in which the antibody and an anticoagulant are disposed. Figure 5 shows a blood collection tube having a plurality of glass beads on each of whose surfaces is disposed an amount of an antibody. Figure 6 shows a blood collection tube having contained therein an amount of anticoagulative antibody/antibodies. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As used herein, "patient" means members of the animal kingdom including humans, regardless of whether the person or animal is ill. Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a standard blood collection tube 10 that is used in connection with drawing blood from a patient. This tube is equipped with a stopper 12 which consists of a body portion 14 made of rubber and a needle entry portion 16. The blood collection tube 10 may, for example, hold about 10.00 ml of fluid. As is well known, this blood collection tube 10 is used with a needle holder and a disposable needle (both not shown). The disposable needle is attached to the holder, the needle is inserted into the patient's vein and the needle entry por¬ tion of the stopper 12 is inserted through the opposite end of the needle into the holder. The blood collection tube 10 is then allowed to receive blood and when the desired amount of blood has been collected the blood collection tube is removed and another may be used. In this fashion, multiple tubes of blood may be obtained from a single needle stick. The blood collection tube 10 of Figure 1 contains a desired amount of antibody 22. The antibody is preferably in a liquid form, such as an electrolyte solution composed predominantly of NaCl in physiologic concentrations. Because of the high specificity and collection of anti- bodies, in general, only minimal volumes of antibody will be needed. The volume of antibody 22 disposed in the tube 10 is about .01 ml to 1.00 ml of antibody, with .10 ml to .20 ml being preferred. This will provide a dilutional effect of approximately .01 to 2.0 ml, with .10 to .20 ml being preferred. The antibody will be about .10% to 20% of the volume of the blood with about .50% to 1.00% being preferred. The antibody can either be a polyclonal or a mono¬ clonal antibody, used either alone or in combination. Upon the introduction of blood, the swirling action of the blood entering the evacuated tube will mix the antibodies and blood. Further mixing may be achieved by inverting the tube, as is commonly done following the collection of blood. Antibodies have high affinity constants, in the range of 10~ 9 to 10~ 12 L/M, and react rapidly and completely with their preferred antigen (e.g., infectious agents or coagulation proteins) to form a complex, as is illustrated by the following: Antibody (Ab) + Infectious Agent (IA)——*Antibody - Infectious Agent Complex (IA - Ab) Following formation of the complex, certain blood proteins called complement proteins bind to the antigen- antibody complex. The binding of complement may lead to the direct inactivation of infectious agents or to the phago- cytosis of the complex and agent by the white blood cells present in blood. Ab - IA + Complement (C) >Ab - IA - C (destruction or inactivation of infectious agent) Ab - IA - C + white blood cells * - phagocytosis (inactivation of infectious agent) These reactions take place quickly and --- completed in seconds to minutes. The binding of .- s to infectious agents in a liquid phase is fast and complete, usually occurring in less than 1 second. Solid phase reactions (reactions when the antibody is bound to beads or coated to the tube) take longer, on the order of several minutes. These antibodies have been demonstrated to be effective in inactivating HIV and HBV. Centers for Disease Control: Recommendations For Prevention Of HIV Transmission In Health Care Settings. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Supplement, 36 (25) 15-165, August 21, 1987. Referring now to Figure 2, a blood collection tube 30, having a similar stopper 12 as was described in Figure 1, is shown having an amount of antibody 22 and a silicone gel 32. The amount of silicone gel used is about .50 ml to 2.00 ml with about .50 ml to 1.00 ml being preferred. As the silicone gel 32 is inert, it does not dilute the blood collected in tube 30. As is known to those skilled in the art, the silicon gel 32 is used to facilitate the separation of the serum from the cellular elements of a patient's blood. Silicon gel 32 is preferred for those assays requir¬ ing serum. The cellular constituents will be separated from the serum and intracellular viruses will therefore no longer be available for infecting the laboratory worker. Figure 3 shows a blood collection tube 40 having a similar stopper 12 as was described hereinabove, in which the antibody 42 is dried and coated on the inner surface 43 of the tube 40. This is done by introducing into the tube 40 a volume of antibody sufficient to inactivate the infec- tious agents and then drying this volume of antibody to the tube's 40 surface. The coating thickness of the antibody is less than 1.00 mm. The antibody preferably covers about 5% to 75% of the inside surface of the tube 40. It is preferred to provide the silicone gel 32 in this embodiment. The coating 42 is preferably not dried on to the inner surface 43 occupied by the silicone gel 32. The antibody can bind to an infectious agent in the blood sample and both can thus be removed from a biological fluid solution as was explained hereinabove. Figure 4 shows a blood collection tube 50 and stopper 12 having an antibody 22 along with an anticoagulant 52. The anticoagulant 52 (indicated by squares) can be selected from the group consisting of heparin, EDTA and citrate. The amount of anticoagulant 52 is about .10 to 2.00 ml, with about .50 to 1.00 ml being preferred, or about 10% to 20% by volume to the amount of blood collected in the tube 50. Figure 5 shows another embodiment of the invention. The blood collection tube 60 (with stopper 12) has disposed therein a plurality of glass beads 62. These beads can be made of nylon, glass, latex, resin or other inert materials. The antibody 64 is adhered to the outside surface of the glass beads 62. The infectious agents in the blood will bind to the antibody and thus will be removed from the biological fluid. It will be appreciated that only certain examples of combinations of antibody, anticoagulant, and silicone gel were discussed hereinbefore. The invention, however, is not limited to these combinations. It will be appreciated that the invention cannot be used to analyze the presence of antibody-specific virus or antibody to a specific virus. That is, if antibody HBV and HIV is added to a tube, the blood sample obtained in that tube cannot be used to evaluate the patient's anti¬ bodies to HIV and HBV or analyzed for the presence of HIV or Hepatitis B Surface Antigen. The invention provides a blood collection tube and associated method that not only inactivates viruses and other infectious agents present in a patient's blood, but also does not have a measurable effect on other constituents of the blood, therefore, allowing the blood to be used for the analyses for which the blood was drawn. As it was mentioned hereinabove, it is sometimes desirable to obtain an anticoagulated blood sample. The method of the invention provides for using antibodies to inhibit clotting factors in the blood and to resist coagu¬ lation in blood samples obtained for laboratory analysis. Figure 6 shows a biological fluid containing tube 100 (with stopper 12) in which is contained an amount of antibody 22 and a blood factor antibody 102 (indicated by triangles). The antibody 102 binds to one or several of the blood coagulation factors including factors I, II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII and resists coagulation of the blood. The antibodies 102 differ in specificity (the compound to which the antibody binds) from anti-infectious agent antibodies. Coagulation factor antibodies bind to the specific active portions of coagulation proteins, thereby inhibiting their biologic function. The binding of the antibody to the specific coagulation protein inhibits the coagulation process. The uncoagulated blood may then be assayed or the formed elements (red blood cells white blood cells) may be separated and the plasma used for analysis. The coagulant antibodies can be produced in goats, rabbits and horses or may be monoclonal antibodies which are produced through immunization of rats or mice. These anti- bodies are easy to produce, inexpensive and do not pose a chemical or biologic hazard to health care workers. Antibody anticoagulation has the benefits of heparin (minimal chelating properties, negligible water shift and low ionic concentration) and lacks heparin's disadvantages (uniform preparation, noninteraction with fibronectin and calcium) . Antibody anticoagulated blood may be used to assay blood gases, ionized calcium, potassium, aminoglycoside antibiotics, and cell numbers. Whereas particular embodiments of the invention have been described above for purposes of illustration, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the details may be made without departing from the invention as described in the appended claims.

Claims: I CLAIM : 1. A method of inactivating infectious agents in biological fluid drawn from a patient comprising the steps of: providing biological fluid container means having an outer surface and an inner surface; placing in said biological fluid container means an antibody; and introducing patient biological fluid into said container, whereby at least some of said infectiou s in said biological fluids are inactivated by sai' _χ 2. The method of Claim 1, wherein placing an amount of antibody equal to about .10% to 20% of said volume of said biological fluid in said biological fluid container means. 3. The method of Claim 2, wherein placing an amount of antibody equa > about .50% to 1.00% of said volume of said biological fluid in said biological fluid container means. 4. The method of Claim 1, including coating said inner surface of said biological fluid container means with said antibody. 5. The method of Claim 4, including drying said antibody to said inner surface. 6. The method of Claim 1, wherein employing said antibody in liquid form in said biological fluid container means. 7. The method of Claim 1, including providing said biological fluid container means with associated needle and holder means; drawing said biological fluid from said patient through said needle; and collecting said biological fluid in said biological fluid container means. 8. The method of Claim 1, including employing an anticoagulant in said biological fluid container means. 9. The method of Claim 1, including employing silicone gel in said biological fluid container means. 10. The method of Claim 1, including employing said antibody from the group con- sisting of monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal antibodies. 11. The method of Claim 1, including providing antibody holder means having an outer surface, placing an amount of said antibody on said outer surface of said antibody holder means, and placing said antibody holder means in said biological fluid container means, whereby said infectious agents chemically bind to said antibody holder means thus removing said infectious agents from said biological fluid. 12. The method of Claim 1, including inactivating Hepatitis B virus (HBV) in said biological fluid. 13. The method of Claim 1, including inactivating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in said biological fluid. 14. The method of Claim 1, including inactivating Human T Lymphotropic Virus I (HTLV I) in said biological fluid. 15. The method of Claim 1, including inactivating cyto egalovirus (CMV) in said biological fluid. 16. An apparatus for containing biological fluid from a patient comprising a biological fluid container means having disposed therein an antibody for inactivating infec- tious agents in said biological fluid. 17. The apparatus of Claim 16, including a needle and holder means to hold said needle, said holder means associated with said biological fluid container means, whereby said needle draws said biological fluid from said patient and deposits the same into said biological fluid container means. 18. The apparatus of Claim 16, including silicone gel disposed in said biological fluid container means. 19. The apparatus of Claim 16, including an anticoagulant disposed in said biological fluid container means. 20. The apparatus of Claim 18, including an anticoagulant disposed in said biological fluid container means. 21. The apparatus of Claim 16, wherein said antibody is selected from the group consisting of monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal anti- bod ies . 22. The apparatus of Claim 21 , wherein the amount of said antibody is equal to about .10% to 20% by volume of said biological fluid in said biolog ical fluid container means . 23. The apparatus of Claim 22 , wherein the amount of said antibody is equal to about .50% to 1. 00% by volume of said biolog ical fluid in said biological fluid container means . 24. The apparatus of Claim 16, wherein said antibody is a fluid. 25. The apparatus of Claim 16, wherein said antibody is dried on the inside surface of said biological fluid container means. 26. The apparatus of Claim 16, including antibody holder means placed in said biological fluid container means, said antibody holder means having an outside surface on which is placed an amount of said antibody, whereby said infectious agents in said biological fluid means chemically bind to said outer surface of said antibody holder means. 27. The apparatus of Claim 26, wherein said antibody holder means is a plurality of beads. 28. The apparatus of Claim 27, wherein said beads are made of a material selected from the group consisting of glass, nylon, and latex. 29. A method of obtaining uncoagulated blood samples comprising the steps of: providing a blood container means; placing in said blood container means a blood factor anticoagulant antibody; and introducing into said blood container means an amount of blood, whereby blood coagulant factors in said blood will be inhibited so that said amount of blood will be uncoagulated. 30. The method of Claim 29, including determining properties of blood gases in said uncoagulated blood. 31. The method of Claim 29, including determining properties of calcium ions in said uncoagulated blood. 32. The method of Claim 29, including determining properties of potassium ions in said uncoagulated blood. 33. The method of Claim 29, including determining properties of aminoglycoside antibiotics in said uncoagulated blood. 34. The method of Claim 29, including producing said blood factor anticoagulant antibody in an animal. 35. The method of Claim 34, including producing said blood factor anticoagulant antibody in goats, rabbits, or horses. 36. The method of Claim 29, including producing said blood factor anticoagulant antibody through monoclonal assays by immunizing rats or mice. 37. An apparatus for containing blood from a patient comprising a blood container means having disposed therein antibody blood factor anticoagulant for resisting coagulation of said blood. 38. The apparatus of Claim 37, including a needle and holder means to hold said needle, said holder means being associated with said blood container means, whereby said needle draws said blood from said patient and deposits the same into said blood container means. 39. The apparatus of Claim 38, wherein said antibody blood factor anticoagulant is produced in an animal. 40. The apparatus of Claim 38, wherein said antibody blood factor anticoagulant is a monoclonal antibody produced by immunizing rats or mice.

Inventors: SMITH WILLIAM I JR, SMITH, WILLIAM, I., JR.
Applicants: SMITH WILLIAM I JR, SMITH, WILLIAM, I., JR.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: C12Q1
IPC codes: A61L2, C12Q1, G01N33