The method is based on the enzymatic hydrolysis of serum or plasma triglyceride to glycerol and free fatty acids (FFA) by lipoprotein lipase (LPL). The glycerol is phosphorylated by adenosin triphosphate (ATP) in the presence of glycerolkinase (GK) to form glycerol-3-phosphate (G-3-P) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP).
G-3-P is oxidized by glycerophosphate oxidase (GPO) to form dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and hydrogen peroxide.
A red chromogen is produced by the peroxidase (POD) catalyzed coupling of 4-aminoantipyrine (4-AA) and phenol with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), proportional to the concentration of triglyceride in the sample.