“…AA is the most abundant form in plasma and sensitive to oxidation and degradation during blood sampling, handling, storage, and analysis (Washko et al, 1992;Levine et al, 1999). Various factors such as choice of anticoagulant, temperature, light, pH, dissolved oxygen, solvent, ionic strength, trace metals as ferric ions or the presence of oxidizing enzymes have been reported to affect AA stability (Bradley et al, 1973;Lunec and Blake, 1985;Galan et al, 1988;Margolis and Davis, 1988;Comstock et al, 1995;Key et al, 1996;Margolis and Duewer, 1996;Chung et al, 2001;Ching et al, 2002). It is essential to avoid degradation and oxidation of AA during sampling, sample handling and analysis, as this may skew the ratio between DHAA and AA.…”