Aqueous primary standard for use in measuring cholesterol by the cholesterol oxidase method.

An aqueous primary standard is needed for measuring cholesterol by enzymatic procedures. Sodium deoxycholate solubilizes cholesterol in water. Crystalline cholesterol (1.00, 3.00, 4.00, and 5.00 g/L), added to a solution containing 150 g of this compound per liter of a 9 g/L saline solution, was measured by a cholesterol oxidase procedure, with a centrifugal analyzer. The solubilizer did not interfere. When compared to an isopropanol-based commercial cholesterol standard, the cholesterol standard in solubilizer showed excellent correlation (r = 0.986; m = 0.989). Day-to-day variation for the mixture during nine days was small (CV, 2.9% at 100 g/L, 3.7% at 3.00 g/L, and 1.8% at 4.00 g/L). Linearity was maintained up to 5.00 g/L. The cholesterol concentration in four reference sera so analyzed maintained CV's of less than 4%. The viscosity of the mixture was similar to that of serum. The standard mixtures, stored at room temperature for 360 days, remained stable. The solubilized cholesterol standard is shown to be suitable for use in the enzymatic procedure.