title: Rapid micro-scale assay for homocysteine by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Increased total homocysteine (tHcy) level is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Here, we describe a rapid tHcy micro-scale assay.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed an easy sample preparation and rapid liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the measurement of tHcy in human serum and plasma, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The tHcy assay was linear up to 61.6 micromol/L, the detection limit was 1.0 micromol/L, the lower limit of quantification was 1.8 micromol/L, the imprecision in the range of 9.30-25.9 micromol/L was less than 5.9% and the analytical recovery was 94.7 +/- 6.3%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our novel tHcy LC-MS/MS assay is a quick, precise and robust method for tHcy determination in routine diagnostics.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Laboratoriums- und Transfusionsmedizin, Herz- und Diabeteszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen, Universitätsklinik der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. jkuhn@hdz-nrw.de
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Götting
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kleesiek
mesh_terms: D001681:Biological Assay; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D006710:Homocysteine