Measurement of plasma adenosine concentration: methodological and physiological considerations

This study tested the hypothesis that measurements of plasma adenosine concentration made on samples of blood obtained in dipyridamole and EHNA (i.e., "stopping solution") may be falsely elevated as a result of ongoing in vitro production and accumulation of adenosine during sample processing. Studies were performed with samples of anticoagulated blood obtained from anesthesized domestic swine. Adenosine concentration of ultra filtrated plasma was determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The following parameters were evaluated: (i) rate of clearance of [3H]adenosine added to plasma, (ii) endogenous adenosine concentration of matched blood samples obtained in "stopping solution" alone, "stopping solution" plus EDTA, and perchloric acid (PCA), (iii) plasma and erythrocyte endogenous adenosine concentration in nonhemolyzed samples, and (iv) plasma adenosine concentration of samples hemolyzed in the presence of "stopping solution" alone or "stopping solution" plus EDTA. We observed that (i) greater than or equal to 95% of [3H]adenosine added to plasma is removed from it by formed elements of the blood in less than 20 s, (ii) plasma adenosine concentration of samples obtained in "stopping solution" alone is generally 10-fold greater than that of matched samples obtained in "stopping solution" plus EDTA, (iii) deliberate mechanical hemolysis of blood samples obtained in "stopping solution" alone resulted in substantial augmentation of plasma adenosine levels in comparison with matched nonhemolyzed specimens--addition of EDTA to "stopping solution" prevented this, and (iv) adenosine content of blood samples obtained in PCA agreed closely with the sum of plasma and erythrocyte adenosine content of samples obtained in "stopping solution" plus EDTA. The data obtained demonstrate that (i) plasma adenosine concentrations are falsely elevated in samples of blood obtained in "stopping solution" alone, and (ii) addition of EDTA to "stopping solution" blocks in vitro production and accumulation of adenosine. Finally, rapid removal of adenosine from plasma by formed elements of blood may make it difficult to employ measurements of plasma adenosine concentration to assess physiological processes even in the absence of in vitro production of the nucleoside.