A sensitive method for determination of serum hemoglobin based on iso-luminol chemiluminescence

A simple and rapid method for determination of serum hemoglobin is described. Hemoglobin may be determined in serum within the range of 0.02–400 mg/1 by the sensitive chemiluminescent iso-luminol reaction. The iso-luminol assay was considerably more sensitive than the conventional colorimetric procedure based on tetramethylbenzidine. Precision and accuracy were higher with the iso-luminol assay especially at low levels of hemoglobin. The correlation between the luminescent and colorimetric method was linear but the colorimetric determinations resulted in higher concentrations of hemoglobin. This discrepancy was probably caused by non-heme serum iron which interfered more strongly with the colorimetric method.