Biochemistry
BLOOD, CLOT
Blood samples were collected between 7.30 and 10.00 am following an overnight fast. Samples were then left to clot for 30 min and afterwards centrifuged. The serum and plasma were stored at − 80 °C until analysis at the end of trial. BTM were analyzed using EDTA plasma. All BTMs were analyzed in one single batch to reduce variation in the analysis. We measured BTMs using an electrochemiluminescent immunoassay on a Roche COBAS 8000 reader (Roche, Rotkreuz, Switzerland). At our facility the least significant change (LSC) for PINP is 22.9% and for CTx 33.0% and the coefficiency of variation is 10% for CTx and 7.4% for PINP.