Uric acid determination

An aqueous solution useful in connection with a redox type spectrophotometric or colorimetric determination of uric acid in a biologic fluid is disclosed. The solution contains either a multivalent metallic ion reducible to a lower valence state by uric acid, a water soluble chelating compound capable of complexing with a metallic ion after reduction by uric acid to yield, in complexed form, a colored complex, or a combination of said ion and said chelating compound. The solution also contains, as an added constituent, imidazole, an alpha-amino acid, or a combination thereof. This constituent is present in an amount such that, when said solution contains a biologic fluid containing protein and uric acid, a buffer system such that the pH of the solution is 6 to 12, and a multivalent metal ion, the protein in the fluid does not significantly reduce said multivalent ions present in the solution.