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Serum bicarbonate stability study at room temperature – influence of time to centrifugation and air exposure on bicarbonate measurement reported according to the CRESS checklist

  • Vesna Šupak-Smolčić ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Lucija Franin , Mihovil Horvat , Pavica Šonjić , Rebeka Svatić , Dragana Antončić , Merica Aralica , Dara Metzner , Maja Šimac and Lidija Bilić-Zulle
Published/Copyright: January 17, 2023
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Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
From the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) Volume 61 Issue 6

Abstract

Objectives

The aim was to evaluate the stability of serum bicarbonate at room temperature, depending on time to centrifugation and air exposure.

Methods

Stability study was conducted in the laboratory of Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka, Croatia in January-February 2022. Nine samples from 10 volunteers were collected in clot activator gel tubes (Greiner Bio-One). Bicarbonate was measured on Beckman Coulter AU480 (Beckman Coulter, Brea, USA). Three tubes were left at room temperature for 30 min, three tubes for 2 h, three tubes for 4 h until centrifugation. First tube from first group (baseline) was measured immediately after centrifugation. Other measurements were expressed as percentage deviation (PD%) from baseline. First tube was remeasured after 1 and 2 h (OT_0h_1h; OT_0h_2h). Second and third tubes were opened 1 and 2 h after centrifugation (C_0h_1h; C_0h_2h). Second group of tubes was processed the same way with 2-hour centrifugation delay (WB_2h; OT_2h_1h; OT_2h_2h; C_2h_1h; C_2h_2h), and third group with 4-hour delay (WB_4h; OT_4h_1h; OT_4h_2h; C_4h_1h; C_4h_2h). PD% was compared to Maximum Permissible Difference (MPD=5.69%). MedCalc statistical software was used (MedCalc, Ostend, Belgium).

Results

Bicarbonate baseline mean value (range) was 27.3 (23.4–29.6) mmol/L. Obtained PD% (95%CI) were: C_0h_1h 0.46 (−1.21, 2.12); C_0h_2h 0.18 (−2.22, 2.57); OT_0h_1h −6.46 (−7.57, −5.36); OT_0h_2h −10.67 (−12.13, −9.21); WB_2h −0.15 (−2.04, 1.74); C_2h_1h 0.01 (−1.52, 1.54); C_2h_2h −0.40 (−2.65, 1.85); OT_2h_1h −5.43 (−7.30, −3.55); OT_2h_2h −11.32 (−13.57, −9.07); WB_4h −0.85 (−3.28, 1.58); C_4h_1h −2.52 (−4.93, 0.11); C_4h_2h −3.02 (−5.62, 0.43); OT_4h_1h −7.34 (−9.64, −5.05); OT_4h_2h −11.85 (−14.38, −9.33).

Conclusions

Serum bicarbonate is stable for 4 h in closed uncentrifuged tubes, another 2 h in closed tubes after centrifugation, and is unstable within 1 h in opened tube.

Keywords: bicarbonates; checklist; preanalytical phase; stability
Corresponding author: Vesna Šupak-Smolčić, Clinical Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, Rijeka Clinical Hospital Center, Tome Strizica 3 51000 Rijeka, Croatia; and Department of Medical Informatics, Rijeka University School of medicine, Rijeka, Croatia, E-mail:

  1. Research funding: None declared.

  2. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  5. Ethical approval: This study complies with all relevant national regulations, institutional policies and is in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration (as revised in 2013) and has been approved by the hospital Ethics Committee (Approval number 003-05/21-1/120, December 2, 2021).

  6. Data availability: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2022-1182).

Received: 2022-11-19
Accepted: 2022-12-28
Published Online: 2023-01-17
Published in Print: 2023-05-25

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2022-1182
Keywords for this article
bicarbonates; checklist; preanalytical phase; stability

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Improving access to diagnostic testing in conflict-affected areas: what is needed?
  4. Review
  5. Deciphering the role of monocyte and monocyte distribution width (MDW) in COVID-19: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
  6. Opinion Paper
  7. From research cohorts to the patient – a role for “omics” in diagnostics and laboratory medicine?
  8. EFLM Paper
  9. The European Register of Specialists in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine: code of conduct, version 3 – 2023
  10. Guidelines and Recommendations
  11. Cardiac troponin measurement at the point of care: educational recommendations on analytical and clinical aspects by the IFCC Committee on Clinical Applications of Cardiac Bio-Markers (IFCC C-CB)
  12. Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics
  13. A new and improved method of library preparation for non-invasive prenatal testing: plasma to library express technology
  14. Multiplex proteomics using proximity extension assay for the identification of protein biomarkers predictive of acute graft-vs.-host disease in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
  15. General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
  16. Assessment of laboratory capacity in conflict-affected low-resource settings using two World Health Organization laboratory assessment tools
  17. Challenge in hyponatremic patients – the potential of a laboratory-based decision support system for hyponatremia to improve patient’s safety
  18. Evaluation of hemolysis, lipemia, and icterus interference with common clinical immunoassays
  19. Serum bicarbonate stability study at room temperature – influence of time to centrifugation and air exposure on bicarbonate measurement reported according to the CRESS checklist
  20. Effects of lipemia on capillary serum protein electrophoresis in native ultra-lipemic material and intravenous lipid emulsion added sera
  21. C-reactive protein interacts with amphotericin B liposomes and its potential clinical consequences
  22. Evaluation of analytical performance of homocysteine LC-MS/MS assay and design of internal quality control strategy
  23. A reliable and high throughput HPLC–HRMS method for the rapid screening of β-thalassemia and hemoglobinopathy in dried blood spots
  24. Dynamics of the vitamin D C3-epimer levels in preterm infants
  25. Comparison of ANA testing by indirect immunofluorescence or solid-phase assays in a low pre-test probability population for systemic autoimmune disease: the Camargo Cohort
  26. Reference Values and Biological Variations
  27. LMS-based continuous reference percentiles for 14 laboratory parameters in the CALIPER cohort of healthy children and adolescents
  28. Indirectly determined reference intervals for automated white blood cell differentials of pediatric patients in Berlin and Brandenburg
  29. Infectious Diseases
  30. Evaluation of a high-sensitivity SARS-CoV-2 antigen test on the fully automated light-initiated chemiluminescent immunoassay platform
  31. Letters to the Editor
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  34. Stability of SARS-CoV-2 respiratory samples in non-freezing condition: importance for tropical countries under heavy diagnostic demand
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