SERUM SUCCINATE BY CAPILLARY ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS - MARKER CANDIDATE FOR HYPOXIA

Serum succinate may offer an alternate analyte to lactate for the eval uation of hypoxia. To evaluate the potential uses of succinate, a rela tively rapid capillary zone electrophoresis assay was developed for us e in the clinical laboratory setting. Employing a simple indirect ultr aviolet detection method with commercially available instrumentation, the limit of detection for serum succinate was determined to be 0.1 mu mol/L, the upper limit of linearity 100 mu mol/L, and the between-run coefficient of variation about 15 percent. Based on specimens from 20 2 apparently healthy adults, the non-parametric reference interval was 1.0 to 9.2 mu mol/L. Preliminary studies in stored blood show succina te increased 2-fold while lactate increased Ii-fold, suggesting that s uccinate may be a clinically useful marker for hypoxia in patients aft er blood transfusion. This assay provides a practical tool for the inv estigation of the clinical applications of succinate.