Specimen Collection and Handling

1. Heparin must not be used nor should the patient be on heparin therapy.

2. The NEFA level in serum will increase as it remains at room temperature.

3.Transfer specimen to a plastic transport tube before freezing. To avoid delays in turnaround time when requesting multiple tests on frozen samples, please submit separate frozen specimens for each test requested.

4. Sample should be collected in the early morning after a 12-hour fast. Blood for the NEFA procedure should be collected after an overnight fast because the level of circulating non-esterified fatty acids is strongly influenced by food ingestion. If the patient has not properly fasted, the determined level of NEFA will be elevated and not directly comparable to a normal range derived from fasting normal controls.

To Process:

After clotting, separate serum and freeze immediately following centrifugation.