Stability of procalcitonin at room temperature.
Clin Lab
; 60(11): 1921-4, 2014.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25648035
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The aim was to assess procalcitonin (PCT) stability after two days of storage at room temperature.METHODS:
Samples were collected from febrile children aged 7 to 92 days and were rapidly frozen after sampling. PCT levels were measured twice after thawing immediately (named y) and 48 hours later after storage at room temperature (named x). PCT values were described with medians and interquartile ranges or by categorizing them into classes with thresholds 0.25, 0.5, and 2 ng/mL. The relationship between x and y PCT levels was analyzed using fractional polynomials in order to predict the PCT value immediately after thawing (named y') from x.RESULTS:
A significant decrease in PCT values was observed after 48 hours of storage at room temperature, either in median, 30% lowering (p < 0.001), or as categorical variable (p < 0.001). The relationship between x and y can be accurately modeled with a simple linear model y = 1.37 x (R2 = 0.99). The median of the predicted PCT values y' was quantitatively very close to the median of y and the distributions of y and y' across categories were very similar and not statistically different.CONCLUSIONS:
PCT levels noticeably decrease after 48 hours of storage at room temperature. It is possible to pre- dict accurately effective PCT values from the values after 48 hours of storage at room temperature with a simple statistical model.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Protein Precursors
/
Specimen Handling
/
Temperature
/
Calcitonin
/
Fever
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Humans
/
Infant
/
Newborn
Language:
En
Journal:
Clin Lab
Journal subject:
TECNICAS E PROCEDIMENTOS DE LABORATORIO
Year:
2014
Type:
Article