A simple method for plasma total vitamin C analysis suitable for routine clinical laboratory use

Nutrition Journal

Research

L. John Hoffer¹  Line Robitaille¹ 

[1] Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and Department of Medicine, McGill University and Jewish General Hospital, 3755 Cote Sainte Catherine, H3T 1E2, Montreal, QC, Canada;

关键词: Ascorbic acid;    Ascorbic acid deficiency;    Avitaminosis;    Dehydroascorbic acid;    Malnutrition;    Vitamin C;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12937-016-0158-9

 received in 2016-02-23, accepted in 2016-04-13,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn-hospital hypovitaminosis C is highly prevalent but almost completely unrecognized. Medical awareness of this potentially important disorder is hindered by the inability of most hospital laboratories to determine plasma vitamin C concentrations. The availability of a simple, reliable method for analyzing plasma vitamin C could increase opportunities for routine plasma vitamin C analysis in clinical medicine.MethodsPlasma vitamin C can be analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical (EC) or ultraviolet (UV) light detection. We modified existing UV-HPLC methods for plasma total vitamin C analysis (the sum of ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acid) to develop a simple, constant-low-pH sample reduction procedure followed by isocratic reverse-phase HPLC separation using a purely aqueous low-pH non-buffered mobile phase. Although EC-HPLC is widely recommended over UV-HPLC for plasma total vitamin C analysis, the two methods have never been directly compared. We formally compared the simplified UV-HPLC method with EC-HPLC in 80 consecutive clinical samples.ResultsThe simplified UV-HPLC method was less expensive, easier to set up, required fewer reagents and no pH adjustments, and demonstrated greater sample stability than many existing methods for plasma vitamin C analysis. When compared with the gold-standard EC-HPLC method in 80 consecutive clinical samples exhibiting a wide range of plasma vitamin C concentrations, it performed equivalently.ConclusionThe easy set up, simplicity and sensitivity of the plasma vitamin C analysis method described here could make it practical in a normally equipped hospital laboratory. Unlike any prior UV-HPLC method for plasma total vitamin C analysis, it was rigorously compared with the gold-standard EC-HPLC method and performed equivalently. Adoption of this method could increase the availability of plasma vitamin C analysis in clinical medicine.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Robitaille and Hoffer. 2016