Plasma creatinine determination in mice and rats: An enzymatic method compares favorably with a high-performance liquid chromatography assay

• Published in: Kidney international Vol. 71; no. 1; pp. 74 - 78
• Main Authors: Keppler, A., Gretz, N., Schmidt, R., Kloetzer, H-M., Groene, H-J., Lelongt, B., Meyer, M., Sadick, M., Pill, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.01.2007; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Amidohydrolases; Animals; Blood Chemical Analysis - methods; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; colorimetric; Colorimetry; Creatinine - blood; determination methods; enzymatic; Hemolysis; HPLC; Jaffé; Mice; Mice, Mutant Strains; Picrates; plasma creatinine; Polycystic Kidney Diseases - blood; Polycystic Kidney Diseases - genetics; Rats; Rats, Mutant Strains; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Ureohydrolases; plasma creatinine; colorimetric; Jaffé; enzymatic; HPLC; determination methods
• ISSN: 0085-2538; 1523-1755
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.ki.5001988

The use of the colorimetric Jaffé method for the measurement of creatinine in mouse and rat plasma has been criticized as prior studies have shown a dramatic overestimation. We compared a colorimetric picric acid, an enzymatic, and a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to assess their appropriateness for routine measurements of creatinine in plasma of healthy and diseased mice (n=61) and rats (n=56). For the colorimetric Jaffé method a pronounced overestimation is confirmed. Additionally the method showed interference with hemoglobin already in a very low, non-visible concentration range in rat plasma. The enzymatic measurement demonstrated a hemoglobin interference in mice, only when hemolysis was visible. The comparison between HPLC and the enzymatic measurement gave a good agreement between both methods in both species. Therefore the enzymatic method fulfills the requirements for a routine screening test for plasma creatinine in healthy as well as diseased mice and rats over a broad concentration range.