Clinical validation of a new blood collection tube for the accuracy of total homocysteine measurement by different methods.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical use of Homocysteine-Primavette, a new blood collection medium for total homocysteine (tHcy) assay. METHODS: The agreement between baseline tHcy and tHcy in stabilized samples (40 h) was assessed for FPIA, HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS, and ICL. RESULTS: tHcy concentrations in whole blood were stable for 40 h in Hcy-Primavette tubes. CONCLUSION: Primavette tubes are a good alternative for the accurate tHcy measurement and no readjustment of reference intervals is needed.