Ann Lab Med.  2018 Nov;38(6):518-523. 10.3343/alm.2018.38.6.518.

Removing Lipemia in Serum/Plasma Samples: A Multicenter Study

• Castro-Castro MJ
• Candás-Estébanez B
• Esteban-Salán M
• Calmarza P
• Arrobas-Velilla T
• Romero-Román C
• Pocoví-Mieras M
• Aguilar-Doreste JA
• on behalf of the Commission on Lipoprotein and Vascular Diseases, Sociedad Española de Química Clínica

• KMID: 2429116
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3343/alm.2018.38.6.518

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Lipemia, a significant source of analytical errors in clinical laboratory settings, should be removed prior to measuring biochemical parameters. We investigated whether lipemia in serum/plasma samples can be removed using a method that is easier and more practicable than ultracentrifugation, the current reference method.
METHODS
Seven hospital laboratories in Spain participated in this study. We first compared the effectiveness of ultracentrifugation (108,200×g) and high-speed centrifugation (10,000×g for 15 minutes) in removing lipemia. Second, we compared high-speed centrifugation with two liquid-liquid extraction methods"”LipoClear (StatSpin, Norwood, USA), and 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany). We assessed 14 biochemical parameters: serum/plasma concentrations of sodium ion, potassium ion, chloride ion, glucose, total protein, albumin, creatinine, urea, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate-aminotransferase, calcium, and bilirubin. We analyzed whether the differences between lipemia removal methods exceeded the limit for clinically significant interference (LCSI).
RESULTS
When ultracentrifugation and high-speed centrifugation were compared, no parameter had a difference that exceeded the LCSI. When high-speed centrifugation was compared with the two liquid-liquid extraction methods, we found differences exceeding the LCSI in protein, calcium, and aspartate aminotransferase in the comparison with 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane, and in protein, albumin, and calcium in the comparison with LipoClear. Differences in other parameters did not exceed the LCSI.
CONCLUSIONS
High-speed centrifugation (10,000×g for 15 minutes) can be used instead of ultracentrifugation to remove lipemia in serum/plasma samples. LipoClear and 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane are unsuitable as they interfere with the measurement of certain parameters.

Keyword

Lipemia; Interference; Lipid removal method; High-speed centrifugation; LipoClear; 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane

MeSH Terms

Alanine Transaminase
Alkaline Phosphatase
Aspartate Aminotransferases
Bilirubin
Calcium
Centrifugation
Creatinine
Glucose
Hyperlipidemias*
Laboratories, Hospital
Liquid-Liquid Extraction
Methods
Potassium
Sodium
Spain
Transferases
Ultracentrifugation
Urea
Alanine Transaminase
Alkaline Phosphatase
Aspartate Aminotransferases
Bilirubin
Calcium
Creatinine
Glucose
Potassium
Sodium
Transferases
Urea

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