The Long-Term Stability in Whole Blood of 14 Commonly-Requested Hormone Analytes

Abstract

Concentrations of 14 commonly-requested plasma hormones were measured in octuplicate in each of six subjects to determine their stability when unseparated from red cells for periods up to 1 week. Most of the analytes were stable when stored in this way and although statistically significant changes were recorded, in the great majority of cases the changes seen would have no bearing on the clinical interpretation of the result. In the light of these findings, we would confidently report results of analyses for these hormones in plasma that had remained in contact with red cells at ambient temperature for long periods of time.

Preanalytical Stability of Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Depends on Time to Centrifugation Rather than Temperature

“…We found a significant change in ACTH plasma concentrations with time, as in other studies (1,5 ), but this change was much smaller than expected. Unlike another investigation (5 ), we studied samples not only from healthy volunteers but also from patients with high ACTH concentrations.…”

“…Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in blood is considered highly unstable because of proteolytic degradation (1)(2)(3)(4), so storage of blood samples on ice until analysis is recommended. In clinical practice, however, this procedure may present logistical problems because most samples for ACTH measurement must be shipped from the place of sample collection to the laboratory.…”

The Effect of Temperature and Aprotinin on the preanalytical stability of adrenocorticotrophic hormone

“…Our findings were consistent with observations on the stability in EDTA plasma [19]. In whole blood, the delay in ACTH level was 97% greater than baseline values [2]. Ellis J and et al suggested that the median concentration of ACTH showed a significant decline after 18 h at 4°C [18].…”

“…This is of particular importance, since using aprotinin blood collection tubes is an additional step commonly used in the sample collection process for some peptides [16,17]. We found a significant change in ACTH plasma concentrations with time, as in other studies [2,18]. Unlike another investigation [18], we assumed that some disease states could alter the blood enzyme levels and studied samples not only from healthy volunteers but also from 2 patients with high ACTH concentrations in order to detect the significant affected changes.…”

“…Analysis of plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) is a key step in differentiating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal disorder diagnosis and of great clinical significance for both Cushing's syndrome and adrenal insufficiency [1]. ACTH in the blood is considered highly unstable because of proteolytic degradation [2][3][4][5]. Care must be taken during the preanalytical phase, so that special collection, handling, and submission procedures are needed to obtain accurate results.…”