MLSP CLINICAL CHEMISTRY

• CURRENT INTERESTS

  • Indicators of a healthy lifestyle - regular check ups e.g. Cholesterol, blood sugar
  • Predictors of heart disease e.g. Lipoproteins
  • Markers of mental illness or cancer e.g. Cortisol or Alfa Feto Protein (AFP)
  • Disease specific protein markers e.g. C-reactive Protein and Ceruloplasmin
  • Nutritional assessment- the healing process and mineral status
  • Treatment monitoring e.g. LFTs in ARV therapy
  • General maintenance of health
• Interfering Conditions in the Measurement of Analytes

  • Hemolyzed specimen
  • Icteric specimen
  • Lipemic specimen
• CHEMISTRY PANELS

  • Basic Metabolic Panel
  • Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
  • Electrolyte Panel
  • Hepatic Function Panel
  • Lipid Panel
  • Renal Function Panel
• Comprehensive Metabolic Panel - Na+, K+, Cl-, Ca2+, CO2, Glucose, Creatinine, BUN, TP, Albumin, Bilirubin, ALP, AST
• Lipemic specimens can be ultracentrifuged at 10^5x g to remove

  chylomicrons (triglycerides).
• Separated serum/plasma may be kept at RT for 8 hours at 2–8°C for 48 hr. For longer storage, freeze at –20°C. Avoid repeated freezing & thawing.
• DO NOT re-spin primary tubes. This can cause hemolysis. If re-centrifuging is necessary, transfer serum/plasma to another tube
• Transport blood specimens carefully to avoid hemolysis
• Protect tubes for photosensitive analytes (e.g. bilirubin, carotene) from light
• Transport samples for ACTH, lactic acid, ammonia, blood gases in an ice slurry
• Maintain tubes in vertical position to promote complete clotting
• Allow serum and gel separator tubes to clot 30-60 minutes before centrifugation to avoid fibrin strands
• Centrifuge within 2-hours of collection
• Spin most tubes at 1000-1300 RCF for 15 minutes to produce platelet-poor plasma
• Keep tubes capped during centrifugation to avoid loss of CO2, change of pH, evaporation, and/or aerosol formation
• Donald D. van Slyke (1883-1971) - an outstanding clinical chemist able to give an excellent interpretation of analytical results obtained from in body fluids. Published a book in 1932 along with John P. Peeters entitled Clinical Chemistry. He is also the founder of Modern Clinical Chemistry.