A Simple Enzymatic Quantitative Analysis of Triglycerides in Tissues

We determined a method to measure the triglyceride levels in tissues by using a modified enzymatic kit. This enzymatic kit was originally designed to be used to measure the triglyceride levels in plasma. Our method of triglyceride level determination includes dissolving the tissue lipid extracts in an alcohol. Before using the enzymatic kit directly, the lipids were dissolved in tert-butyl alcohol, then a Triton X-100/methyl alcohol mixture was added (1/1 by volume). The presence of organic surfactants such as tert-butyl alcohol and methyl alcohol, and of a surfactant such as Triton X-100, did not interfere with the enzymatic activity. This method enabled us to determine triglyceride levels between 10 and 90 nmol, by using a spectrophotometer to measure the absorbances.