Vincent J. Pileggi

A one-tube serum uric acid method using phosphotungstic acid as protein precipitant and color reagent

Abstract A rapid, convenient one-tube method for serum uric acid is described which employs a single addition of phosphotungstic acid. Serum proteins are precipitated and sufficient phospho-18-tungstic acid remains in the supernatant solution for oxidation of uric acid following alkalinization with sodium carbonate. Color development is accelerated by the use of a one-min heating period in a 100° heating block. The standard curve is linear to 20 mg/100 ml which permits the use of a single aqueous uric acid standard with each group of specimens. Only 0.2 ml of serum is required for a single analysis. The between-run precision is ± 5% (95% confidence limits) and the method yields results in excellent agreement with the phosphotungstate-uric acid method of Henry et al.