The interference of baicalein with uric acid detected by the enzymatic method and its correction method

In recent years, the frequency of clinical application and international recognition of Chinese herbal medicines have been increasing, but the effect of Chinese herbal medicines on common clinical biochemical tests is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of baicalein, a Chinese herbal medicine ingredient, on uric acid (UA), cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and to alleviate the interference of baicalein on these assays by improving the reagent. The interferences of baicalein during the detection of these five analytes were investigated on the Hitachi 7600 system. We prepared UA assay kit according to commercial standards to facilitate the improvement of the formulation and evaluated its performance. Tempol, which could eliminate the interference of baicalein, was found based on the chemical properties of the drug, and the optimum concentration for adding it to our UA reagent was determined. We found that the interference was concentration-dependent for five analytes, with the largest negative interference on UA determination. Self-prepared UA assay kit had a safe analysis performance. Our kit and the commercial kit showed a higher interference of - 71.75% and - 89.98% at 200 µg/mL baicalein, respectively. The addition of 5 mmol/L Tempol to the UA reagent could strongly resist the interference of baicalein. In Conclusion, baicalein has a negative interference effect on analysis based on the Trinder reaction, especially UA assay. With the increase in baicalein concentrations, the negative bias increased, and our improved UA reagent could resist the interference of baicalein on UA detection.