An extraction/enzymatic procedure for serum cholesterol measurement: evaluation of performance characteristics.

The performance characteristics of an extraction/enzymatic procedure for serum cholesterol measurement were evaluated. The procedure is substantially derived from the accepted reference method as standardized by the Centers for Disease Control, substituting the enzymatic reaction for the Liebermann-Burchard reaction. Imprecision (CV) was consistently less than 1.5%, and accuracy was comparable to that of the definitive isotope dilution mass spectrometry method and the accepted reference method. Direct comparison of the enzymatic with the Liebermann-Burchard reaction, using a set of 50 human sera, revealed about -0.05 mmol/l constant bias of the former versus the latter, this being possibly due to higher specificity of the enzymatic reaction. As compared with the accepted reference method, the method described is characterized by higher practicability, the reagent being easier to prepare and to handle, and generating a more stable, chemically defined end-product.