Should blood samples for assay of plasma renin activity be chilled?

Collecting blood on ice for renin determination reportedly may produce falsely high results. To assess the probability of this occurring under actual collection conditions, we measured renin activity in duplicate aliquots of plasma from blood samples from 25 hypertensive patients, both supine and upright, and in 10 supine normotensive controls. One aliquot of the blood was collected on ice and processed at 4 degrees C, the other at room temperature. The two aliquots showed no significant differences in renin activity. If anything, values for samples collected at room temperature were higher. Repeat determination on the same specimens stored at--20 degrees C for nine and 12 months revealed no significant changes in results for any samples, although the amount of angiotensin I found in the sample before incubation at 37 degrees C significantly increased. We conclude that it makes little difference at what temperature one collects blood for renin determination, but because of the wide fluctuations in "room" temperature we recommend that blood samples be collected on ice.