Effects of some pre-analytical conditions on the measurement of homocysteine and cysteine in plasma
-
Maddalena L. Zighetti
Abstract
The association of hyperhomocysteinemia and hypercysteinemia with the risk of arterial and venous thrombosis is well documented. While it is known that standardized pre-analytical conditions are necessary for reliable measurement of plasma total homocysteine, the effects of pre-analytical conditions on cysteine measurement are less well known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of pre-analytical conditions on the measurement of homocysteine and cysteine. We observed that the concentration of total homocysteine in plasma increased significantly with time (38% after 6 h), whereas total cysteine decreased (5% after 2h) when blood anticoagulated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic tripotassium salt was kept at room temperature. These changes were minimized when acidic citrate dextrose was used as an anticoagulant and were abolished when blood samples were immediately placed on crushed ice, independently of the anticoagulant. Storage of plasma for 72h at room temperature induced a small (≅6%), but significant, decrease in cysteine when blood was collected in ethylenediaminetetraacetic tripotassium salt. In contrast, homocysteine was stable in plasma for 72h, independently of the anticoagulant used. In conclusion, if blood samples for plasma total homocysteine and cysteine measurement cannot be kept on ice, they should be collected in acidic citrate dextrose to minimize the artifactual changes.
Copyright © 2004 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Articles in the same Issue
- Matrix metalloproteinases, inflammation and atherosclerosis: therapeutic perspectives
- Regulation of inflammatory responses by activated protein C: the molecular mechanism(s) and therapeutic implications
- Increased serum maternal levels of the HER2 oncoprotein p105 ectodomain in preeclampsia
- Determination of urinary glyoxal and methylglyoxal by high-performance liquid chromatography
- Antioxidants in patients with hyperthyroidism
- Biochemical diagnosis of impaired left ventricular ejection fraction - comparison of the diagnostic accuracy of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP)
- Autoantibodies against oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) and LDL oxidation status
- Concomitant isolation of protein C inhibitor and unnicked β2-glycoprotein I
- Decreased expression of the insulin-like growth factor-I-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) phosphoisoform in pre-eclamptic Wharton's jelly and its role in the regulation of collagen biosynthesis
- Urine albumin excretion in acute ischaemic stroke is related to serum interleukin-6
- Diagnostic use of cerebral and extracerebral oxysterols
- Immunoglobulin G Fcγ receptor expression on polymorphonuclear cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of HIV-infected and HIV-seronegative patients with bacterial pneumonia
- The discordance rate, a new concept for combining diagnostic decisions with analytical performance characteristics. 2. Defining analytical goals applied to the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes by blood glucose concentrations
- Effects of some pre-analytical conditions on the measurement of homocysteine and cysteine in plasma
- Testing and validating a homogeneous immunometric assay for interference
- Linearity evaluation of analytical methods that count particles
- Environmental dichlorodiphenyltrichlorethane or hexachlorobenzene exposure and breast cancer: is there a risk?
- Analytical performance and method comparison study of the total homocysteine fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) on the AxSYM analyzer
- Distribution of low-density lipoprotein particle size in healthy Korean adult males
- Management of invalid internal controls in the Cobas Amplicor HCV-RNA test using the high-speed centrifugation method
- The phenomenon of regression-toward-the-mean
- Error messages when calculating chi-square statistics with Microsoft EXCEL®
- Meetings and Awards
Articles in the same Issue
- Matrix metalloproteinases, inflammation and atherosclerosis: therapeutic perspectives
- Regulation of inflammatory responses by activated protein C: the molecular mechanism(s) and therapeutic implications
- Increased serum maternal levels of the HER2 oncoprotein p105 ectodomain in preeclampsia
- Determination of urinary glyoxal and methylglyoxal by high-performance liquid chromatography
- Antioxidants in patients with hyperthyroidism
- Biochemical diagnosis of impaired left ventricular ejection fraction - comparison of the diagnostic accuracy of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP)
- Autoantibodies against oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) and LDL oxidation status
- Concomitant isolation of protein C inhibitor and unnicked β2-glycoprotein I
- Decreased expression of the insulin-like growth factor-I-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) phosphoisoform in pre-eclamptic Wharton's jelly and its role in the regulation of collagen biosynthesis
- Urine albumin excretion in acute ischaemic stroke is related to serum interleukin-6
- Diagnostic use of cerebral and extracerebral oxysterols
- Immunoglobulin G Fcγ receptor expression on polymorphonuclear cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of HIV-infected and HIV-seronegative patients with bacterial pneumonia
- The discordance rate, a new concept for combining diagnostic decisions with analytical performance characteristics. 2. Defining analytical goals applied to the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes by blood glucose concentrations
- Effects of some pre-analytical conditions on the measurement of homocysteine and cysteine in plasma
- Testing and validating a homogeneous immunometric assay for interference
- Linearity evaluation of analytical methods that count particles
- Environmental dichlorodiphenyltrichlorethane or hexachlorobenzene exposure and breast cancer: is there a risk?
- Analytical performance and method comparison study of the total homocysteine fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) on the AxSYM analyzer
- Distribution of low-density lipoprotein particle size in healthy Korean adult males
- Management of invalid internal controls in the Cobas Amplicor HCV-RNA test using the high-speed centrifugation method
- The phenomenon of regression-toward-the-mean
- Error messages when calculating chi-square statistics with Microsoft EXCEL®
- Meetings and Awards
