Gas-chromatographic determination of cholesterol in serum: candidate reference method.

We present a candidate Reference Method for determination of total cholesterol in serum. The method is based on high-resolution capillary gas chromatography, and we took special precautions with respect to weighing, calibration, and chromatographic peak integration. Analytical recovery of added cholesterol was essentially complete (99.99%, SD 0.48%) and reproducibility was excellent (total CV 0.35-0.50%). When cholesterol was determined in a reference serum certified by means of an established candidate Definitive Method, no significant bias could be detected.