Isocitrate as Calcium Ion Activity Buffer in Coagulation Assays

• Background: Ca2+ activity close to the physiological concentration of 1.3 mmol/L is essential in blood coagulation. Is this also true for the performance of global diagnostic coagulation assays? We searched for compounds that would buffer Ca2+ activity at ∼1.3 mmol/L without disturbing coagulation reactions and investigated whether such Ca2+ buffering improves diagnostic efficacy in global diagnostic coagulation tests.Methods: Buffering was investigated by mixing CaCl2 and 11 candidate compounds and determining Ca2+ activity. The best candidates were added to mixtures of plasma and thromboplastin to detect interference with coagulation reactions. The best of these candidates, isocitrate, was used to modify an activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), buffering final Ca2+ activity to ∼1.3 mmol/L. Plasma samples from 22 healthy individuals and 120 patients were analyzed with original and modified APTT to determine whether diagnostic efficacy was improved.Results: Two suitable Ca2+ buffers, citrate and isocitrate, were found. Isocitrate was preferred as being less coagulation inhibitory, a better Ca2+ buffer, and possibly a better anticoagulant. The isocitrate-modified APTT showed a final Ca2+ activity of 1.60 ± 0.07 mmol/L, compared with 2.73 ± 0.20 mmol/L for the original APTT. The means and SDs for the healthy individuals were determined for both procedures, and the values were used to express patient deviation from normality (difference from mean divided by SD). The deviation was greater for the modified APTT; 4.3 ± 5.7, compared with 3.6 ± 5.0 (P <0.005) for the original APTT.Conclusions: Isocitrate can be used to buffer Ca2+ activity at physiological concentrations and can serve as an anticoagulant. APTT with isocitrate-buffered Ca2+ activity shows signs of improved diagnostic efficacy.

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