Myrtus communis L. phytohemagglutinins as a clarifying agent for lipemic sera

Phytohemagglutinins from sees of Myrtus communis L., either in solution or adsorbed by glutaraldehyde-treated erythrocytes, constitute an effective system for clarification of lipemic sera. It can be used in clinical analysis to avoid the interference produced by turbidity in spectrophotometric determinations. Parameters such as glucose, bilirubin, urea, uric acid, GPT, GOT, and LDH, amongst others, can be determined without interference. The content in triglycerides of 1 ml of serum can be decreased by more than seventy per cent by treatment with 50 mg of lyophilized glutaraldehyde-treated erythrocytes saturated with Myrtus communis L. phytohemagglutinins.