At a glance
| Analyte | LDL cholesterol |
|---|---|
| Also called | LDL, Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, Bad cholesterol |
| Method | Direct, homogeneous enzymatic |
| Sample type | Serum, Plasma |
| Panel | Lipid |
| Discipline | Clinical chemistry |
| Brand | Mindray |
What LDL-C measures
Low-density lipoprotein carries cholesterol out to the tissues, and it is the fraction most directly implicated in atherosclerosis, which makes it the target of statin therapy and the number clinicians follow when treating. Many laboratories do not measure it at all, deriving it instead from total cholesterol, HDL and triglycerides using a long-established formula. That calculation is adequate in most fasting samples and unreliable in two common situations: when triglycerides are substantially raised, and when the patient has not fasted. A direct measurement removes that dependency, which matters most in exactly the patients whose lipids are hardest to interpret and who are most likely to be on treatment.
How Philippine laboratories run it
Most Philippine laboratories still report a calculated LDL as part of the standard lipid profile, so a direct LDL reagent is a considered addition rather than a default one. It earns its place in laboratories with a significant cardiology or endocrinology workload, where patients on lipid-lowering therapy are followed to a target and where raised triglycerides are common enough that calculated values are regularly unreportable. Laboratories weighing it up should look at how often their calculated LDL is currently suppressed for a high triglyceride, since that number is the case for the reagent.
Analyzers it runs on
Calibrator, controls and companion tests
Delivered with its calibrator, both control levels and the rest of the lipid panel, on the same schedule as LDL-C.
Storage and handling
Refrigerated and kept closed when off the analyzer.
Buying LDL-C in the Philippines
LDL-C is supplied for the BS-600M, BS-430, BS-360E, BS-240Pro, BS-230 and BA-88A. We deliver it with Lipid Calibrator and Chemistry Control Level 1, because a run held up waiting on a separate order costs the same shift a stock-out does. Delivery is scheduled against your monthly LDL-C count, so the bench is not rationing tests in the last week of the month. How we plan clinical chemistry supply.
Questions about LDL-C
Should we measure LDL directly or keep calculating it?
Calculation is adequate for most fasting samples with normal triglycerides, and it costs nothing extra. A direct measurement earns its place where triglycerides are often raised, where patients are not reliably fasting, or where you are following patients to an LDL target on treatment, because those are the cases in which the calculated value is either unreliable or cannot be reported at all.
Order LDL-C
Tell us your monthly LDL-C volume and we will quote a supply schedule for BS-600M. We reply within one business day.
Request a quotation