EVALUATION OF AN IMMUNOTURBIDIMETRIC ASSAY FOR HEMOGLOBIN A(1C) ON A COBAS(R) MIRA-S ANALYZER

We evaluated a homogenous immunoturbidimetric assay for haemoglobin A( 1c) (Tina-quant(R) Haemoglobin A(1c), Boehringer Mannheim, GmbH, Mannh eim, Germany) adapted to a Cobas(R) Mira S analyser (F. Hoffmann-La Ro che & Co., Basel, Switzerland) and not requiring sample pretreatment. Between-day CV's determined over a 6 week period were 5.9% and 5.3% fo r mean haemoglobin A(1c) values of 5.4% and 17.0% of total haemoglobin respectively. The imprecision was higher than with an in-house ion-ex change high performance liquid chromatographic method. Bilirubin, tria cylglycerols and the labile fraction of haemoglobin Al, did not interf ere with the assay of haemoglobin Al,. Fetal haemoglobin is not recogn ized by the antibodies used. Results correlated well with those obtain ed by high performance liquid chromatography. In conclusion, the Tina- quant(R) assay is not prone to common interferences and allows the rap id and automated determination of haemoglobin Al, on open photometric analysers.