Specimen Requirements

Title

Carotene, Beta

Specimen Requirement

12 hour fasting preferred.

Begin with a SST tube covered with foil or a glove to protect from light during collection, after 30 minutes of clotting, promptly centrifuge, transfer serum to an amber screw top plastic vial, indicate sample type on tube and send.

Protect from light during entire collection.

Methodology

High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Stability

Room temp: 14 days, Refrigerated: 14 days, Frozen: 14 days

Reference Range

The reference range is determined by the performing laboratory and will show on the report.

Turnaround

3-6 days

Clinical Use

Confirm the diagnosis of carotenoderma; detect fat malabsorption; depressed carotene levels may be found in cases of steatorrhea.

Test Code

CARO