Impact of anticoagulants on assessment of zinc in plasma

The aim of this study was to compare zinc (Zn) level in EDTA, heparin, citrate plasma and serum. The blood samples from the same healthy volunteers (n = 10) were sampled by use of different anticoagulants (EDTA, heparin and citrate) or with no anticoagulant. Zn level was determined by flame atomic-absorption spectrometer (AAnalyst 800, PerkinElmer, USA). Zn level in EDTA, heparin, citrate plasma and serum was in reference range (0.7 to 1.5 μg mL–1), and the difference between sample groups was not observed (P = 0.079). However, correlation was observed only between Zn level in heparin plasma and citrate plasma (rs = 0.72; P = 0.016) and citrate plasma and serum (rs = 0.76; P = 0.012). In conclusion, in Zn blood analysis, sample collection step is important and should be observed when planning study and when comparing the results of Zn level from various studies. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License