Preanalytical Stability of 25(OH)–Vitamin D3 in Human Blood or Serum at Room Temperature: Solid as a Rock

[摘要] In view of increasing interest in vitamin D, the New York Times recently suggested that it might become “the nutrient of the decade” (1). Vitamin D plays a major role in calcium and bone metabolism and is an essential (pre)hormone involved in cell maturation and proliferation (2). Vitamin D deficiency is linked to an increased risk of breast, colon, and prostate cancer as well as autoimmune diseases like juvenile diabetes (2). Analysis and method standardization of the key indicator of vitamin D homeostasis, 25(OH)–vitamin D3, has been studied (3)(4). Information about preanalytical stability of 25(OH)–vitamin D3 in human blood is hard to find, however, especially for “on the bench” conditions. One older study is incomplete and another focuses on freeze-thaw cycles (5)(6). Medical laboratory sample-handling guidelines currently require freezing the sample and protecting it from artificial light and repeated freeze-thaw cycles. On the other hand, food industries report very good stability of vitamin D in natural matrices like milk or fat. We tested the stability of 25(OH)–vitamin D3 in 8 different human blood samples under several sets of routine laboratory conditions.Because dietary supplementation of vitamin D in …

[学科分类] 过敏症与临床免疫学