Abstract

We sought to establish optimum conditions for measuring calcium in erythrocytes by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The conditions we selected are as follows. Wash one volume of fresh heparin-treated packed cells once with 30 volumes of isotonic buffered saline (pH 7.4) at a temperature somewhat exceeding 25 degrees C. Dilute the washed packed cells 10-fold with 12 mmol/L hydrochloric acid, and analyze the supernate for calcium. Measure the hematocrit of the washed packed cells, then analyze an aliquot of them for calcium, using a computer-readout type of flame or a non-flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer equipped with a pyrocoated graphite tube. The temperature program is 1000 degrees C for ashing [corrected] and 1800 degrees C for the atomizing cycle. Intraday and day-to-day reproducibility of the assay was 6.55% and 8.19%, respectively, at the mean concentration of calcium in the erythrocytes of healthy adults, which is 4.30 mumol/L.

This content is only available as a PDF.
This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://dbpia.nl.go.kr/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)
You do not currently have access to this article.