Table 1 Effect of different anticoagulants and blood preservation on the TAC assay. Results are presented as mean ± SEM of ten different assays, and expressed as mmol/L.

Anticoagulant

None (serum)

1.09 ± 0.04

1.10 ± 0.03

1.09 ± 0.03

K-EDTA

1.03 ± 0.05

1.02 ± 0.03

1.01 ± 0.04

Citrate

0.82 ± 0.04

0.81 ± 0.03

0.83 ± 0.03

Heparin

1.04 ± 0.05

1.08 ± 0.04

1.04 ± 0.04