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Related Experiment Videos

Interference of ascorbic acid with chemical analytes.

Qing H Meng1, William C Irwin, Jennifer Fesser

  • 1Department of Pathology, Division of Clinical Biochemistry, Royal University Hospital, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0W8, Canada. qing.meng@usask.ca

Annals of Clinical Biochemistry
|November 2, 2005
PubMed
Summary
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High ascorbic acid levels can significantly interfere with clinical chemistry tests, causing falsely elevated sodium, potassium, calcium, and creatinine. It also leads to falsely decreased results for chloride, bilirubin, uric acid, and lipids.

Area of Science:

  • Clinical Chemistry
  • Analytical Biochemistry

Background:

  • Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can interfere with redox-based laboratory assays.
  • Limited data exists on its interference with major clinical chemistry analyzers.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the interference of ascorbic acid with various serum analytes measured on the Beckman Synchron LX20 analyzer.

Main Methods:

  • Ascorbic acid was added to serum samples at varying concentrations.
  • Serum analytes were subsequently measured using the Beckman Synchron LX20.

Main Results:

  • Elevated ascorbic acid (12.0 mmol/L) caused significant interference, falsely increasing sodium (+43%), potassium (+58%), calcium (+103%), and creatinine (+26%).
  • It also caused falsely decreased chloride (-33%), total bilirubin (-62%), and uric acid (-83%), with undetectable levels for cholesterol, triglycerides, ammonia, and lactate.

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  • No significant interference was observed for electrolytes like magnesium, CO2, glucose, urea, proteins, liver enzymes, or iron studies.

    • Conclusions:

    • Ascorbic acid significantly impacts the accuracy of numerous clinical chemistry tests on the LX20.
    • Clinicians should be aware of potential vitamin C interference, especially with high-dose supplementation, to avoid misdiagnosis.