Objective: To evaluate the stability of biochemical analytes in plasma under routine storage conditions at the Laboratory of Hai Duong Medical Technical University Hospital.
Materials and methods: The experimental study was conducted in accordance with the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) recommendations for stability assessment. Venous blood from each patients was centrifuged and stored according to the routine laboratory protocol. Twelve routine biochemical analytes, including: Glucose, urea, creatinine, total bilirubin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), sodium (Na⁺), potassium (K⁺), and chloride (Cl⁻), were measured using the Beckman Coulter AU680 automated chemistry analyzer at baseline (T0), 1 hour (glucose only), 2, 4, 8, 24, 48, and 72 hours.
Results: Glucose was the first analyte to become unstable, exceeding the stability criterion after 1 hour of RT storage, with an average decrease of approximately 3.53% per hour. Potassium, AST remained stable for up to 8 hours at RT. Total bilirubin, chloride remained stable for up to 24 hours at 2-80C, while creatinine and sodium remained stable for up to 48 hours under the same storage conditions.
Conclusion: This study provides evidence-based data for determining appropriate specimen storage times for routine biochemical testing, thereby supporting the optimization of specimen management procedures.