Are equally spaced specimen collections necessary to assess biological variation? Evidence from renal transplant recipients

Citation
C. Biosca et al., Are equally spaced specimen collections necessary to assess biological variation? Evidence from renal transplant recipients, CLIN CHIM A, 301(1-2), 2000, pp. 79-85
Citations number
15
Categorie Soggetti
Medical Research Diagnosis & Treatment
Journal title
CLINICA CHIMICA ACTA
ISSN journal
00098981 → ACNP
Volume
301
Issue
1-2
Year of publication
2000
Pages
79 - 85
Database
ISI
SICI code
0009-8981(200011)301:1-2<79:AESSCN>2.0.ZU;2-8
Abstract
The established method for determining the components of biological variati on (BV) requires equispaced time intervals between samplings. In a previous study, we determined BV in renal post transplantation patients, taking adv antage of the samples obtained within their clinical treatment protocol (no t necessarily equispaced). To confirm the validity of this practice, we sou ght to determine if the use of varying sampling intervals has an effect on the results obtained in such biological variation studies. The study includ ed two phases: comparison of the results found with identical and non-ident ical sampling intervals and correlation between the within-subject BV and t he length of the sampling interval. There were no differences in within-sub ject BV between the groups or correlations with sampling intervals for any of the constituents studied. We conclude that samples acquired within estab lished clinical protocols for kidney transplant recipients can be used for estimating BV. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.