New automated chemiluminescent assay for erythropoietin

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a polypeptide hormone produced by the kidney that r egulates erythropoiesis by controlling the proliferation and differentiatio n of erythroid progenitors in bone marrow. Assays for EPO are used to monit or dosage and response to human recombinant erythropoietin also may have di agnostic utility in the differential diagnosis of anemia and polycythemia. We evaluated an automated, chemiluminescent immunoassay for EPO (DPC Immuli te) in terms of precision, linearity, interference, and correlation with re ference assays. The Immulite assay demonstrated acceptable correlation with the reference immunochemiluminometric method (slope=1.087, y intercept = 0 .567, R value = 0.990). Within-run CVs ranged from 2.3% to 5.0%, while betw een-run CVs ranged from 4.1% to 9.5%. Linearity extended beyond the manufac turer's stated claims, and recovery ranged from 96.8% to 100.9% across the concentrations tested. No significant interference was noted with hemoglobi n, bilirubin, or triglyceride. Overall,this method compares favorably with the existing immunochemiluminometric reference method and offers clinical l aboratories an alternative for the analysis of erythropoietin. J. Clin. Lab . Anal. 14.271-273, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.