Measurement of ascorbic acid in human plasma and serum: stability, intralaboratory repeatability, and interlaboratory reproducibility

We demonstrate that total ascorbic acid (TAA, the sum of ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid) in properly prepared human plasma is stable at -70 degrees C for at least 6 years when preserved with dithiothreitol. TAA in human plasma or serum preserved with metaphosphoric acid degrades slowly, at the rate of no more than 1% per year. As assessed from our stability data and from data obtained from 23 laboratories over a period of > 2 years, the intralaboratory repeatability of TAA measurement is approximately 2 mumol/L, irrespective of TAA concentration. Nonchromatographic analytical methods involving dinitrophenylhydrazine and 0-phenylenediamine yield biased results relative to chromatographic methods. Within groups of laboratories that use roughly similar analytical methods, the interlaboratory measurement reproducibility CV for TAA is 15%.