Simultaneous determination of serum cholesterol and triglycerides after preliminary column chromatography.

An isopropanolic extract of serum can be made suitable for the simultaneous estimation of cholesterol and triglycerides by passing it through a commercially-available chromatographic column containing activated metallic oxides in which alumina predominates. No centrifugation step nor phase separation is required. Use of the purified extract allows existing methods to be simplified and shortened without loss of reproducibility or stability. Results compare well with those obtained by traditional methods.