In the context of blood collection, what does the term "antiglycolytic" refer to?

The term "antiglycolytic" refers to a substance that inhibits glucose breakdown. In the context of blood collection, antiglycolytic agents are added to blood collection tubes to prevent glycolysis, which is the metabolic process where glucose is broken down by cells into pyruvate or lactate. This is important because glycolysis can lead to a decrease in glucose levels in the sample, potentially resulting in inaccurate test results, especially for glucose measurement. By inhibiting this process, antiglycolytic agents help to preserve the glucose concentration in the blood sample for more reliable laboratory analysis.