An article by Calvaresi et al. 2021 mentioned the use of lithium heparin for plasma hemoglobin assays.
(Reference: Calvaresi, E. C., La'ulu, S. L., Snow, T. M., Allison, T. R., & Genzen, J. R. (2021). Plasma hemoglobin: A method comparison of six assays for hemoglobin and hemolysis index measurement. International journal of laboratory hematology, 43(5), 1145–1153. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijlh.13457)
Hi Carine
Plasma Hb can be accurately measured in samples with other anticoagulants, e.g. EDTA, citrate, etc. Lithium heparin is just one of many anticoagulants.
In clinical labs, plasma Hb is usually measured on a biochemistry analyzer instrument, along with several other analytes using the same sample. Heparin is often recommended by the instrument manufacturer because it is compatible with some of the other analytes also being tested in the sample, such as pH. Choice of anticoagulant is therefore dictated by these other circumstances, not by a specific biological requirement of the plasma Hb assay.
The article that you referred to was actually comparing 6 different assays/analyzers, not different anticoagulants. The important consideration is sample consistency - so use the same anticoagulant (and blood processing/handling conditions) for your entire set of experiments.
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