Serum (blood)
Serum (]
The study of serum is
To obtain serum, a blood sample is allowed to clot (coagulation). The sample is then centrifuged to remove the clot and blood cells, and the resulting liquid supernatant is serum.[3]
Clinical and laboratory uses
The serum of
Serum is also used in protein electrophoresis, due to the lack of fibrinogen which can cause false results.[citation needed]
Purification strategies
Blood serum and plasma are some of the largest sources of biomarkers, whether for diagnostics or therapeutics. Its vast dynamic range, further complicated by the presence of lipids, salts, and post-translational modifications, as well as multiple mechanisms of degradation, presents challenges in analytical reproducibility, sensitivity, resolution, and potential efficacy. For analysis of biomarkers in blood serum samples, it is possible to do a pre-separation by free-flow electrophoresis that usually consists of a depletion of serum albumin protein.[6] This method enables greater penetration of the proteome via separation of a wide variety of charged or chargeable analytes, ranging from small molecules to cells.[citation needed]
Usage note
Like many other mass nouns, the word serum can be pluralized when used in certain senses. To speak of multiple serum specimens from multiple people (each with a unique population of antibodies), physicians sometimes speak of sera (the Latin plural, as opposed to serums).[citation needed] Etymologically serum is derived from the Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to flow, run”).
See also
References
- Martin, Elizabeth A., ed. (2007). Concise Medical Dictionary (7th ed.). ISBN 978-0-19-280697-0. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- Wang, Wendy; Srivastava, Sudhir (2002). "Serological Markers". In Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 1088–1090.