DRIED BLOOD/SERUM SPOT TOTAL CHOLESTEROL ESTIMATION AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO FRESH SERUM TOTAL CHOLESTEROL: AN ANSWER OR A QUESTION IN ITSELF?

INTRODUCTION: Surveillance for risk factors of heart diseases, like increased blood sugar, cholesterol becomes difficult in places with inadequate lab facilities due to difficulty in sample collection, transportation and processing. Feasibility of using dried blood/serum spots in such situations can be thought of as an alternative to fresh serum total cholesterol, as sample collection does not require much expertise. AIM: The aim of this study is to determine whether dried blood and serum spots can be used as an alternative to fresh serum for estimation of total cholesterol in field studies. METHODS: Fresh serum from 100 subjects selected randomly was used for estimation of total cholesterol. Four spots each of blood and serum from these samples were made on Whatman paper 3, out of which one spot from each were analysed on the day of collection and rest were kept in resealable bags to be analysed on day 7, 15 and 30. The correlation between the dried blood/serum spot values with the fresh serum total cholesterol values was examined. RESULTS: A significant correlation with fresh serum total cholesterol values (p value<0.01) was seen for dried serum spots stored up to day 30(0.747 to 0.942) and for dried blood spots stored up to day 15(0.598 to 0.949). CONCLUSIONS: Total cholesterol estimated by dried blood spot up to 15 days and dried serum spots stored up to 30 days can be considered as an alternative to fresh serum for estimation of serum total cholesterol.