QUANTIFICATION OF SERUM-PROTEINS USING CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS

Capillary electrophoresis is a technique that can be automated for the separation of charged particles. By investigating suitable sample dil ution and injection time and adhering to a strict washing procedure we have been able to quantify paraproteins in serum samples. This has en abled us to use the technique of capillary electrophoresis for the pro vision of serum protein electrophoresis in a routine clinical laborato ry. We present our findings of 260 serum samples, which included 76 sa mples with paraproteins analysed by both capillary electrophoresis (EC ) and high resolution agarose gel electrophoresis (HRAGE). CE was able to detect all the monoclonal bands detected by HRAGE, and, in particu lar, better able to detect IgA monoclonal bands occurring in the beta region. The major advantages of CE over HRAGE relate to the automated nature of CE with the elimination of the need for a densitometer.