MULTICENTER EVALUATION OF A HOMOGENEOUS ASSAY FOR HDL-CHOLESTEROL WITHOUT SAMPLE PRETREATMENT

We evaluated a new homogeneous assay for the measurement of HDL-choles terol (HDL-C) in six European laboratories. The assay includes two rea gents and is applicable to most autoanalyzers, which allows full autom ation. The total CVs of the new method ranged between 1.3% and 6.7%. T hereby determined HDL-C values were in good agreement with those obtai ned by precipitation with phosphotungstic acid/MgCl2 or by a combinati on of ultracentrifugation and precipitation (0.956< r <0.994). The ass ay was linear up to at least 1500 mg/L HDL-C. Hemoglobin did not inter fere, whereas icteric samples with bilirubin >100 mg/L showed discrepa ncies between the homogeneous and the precipitation assay, Lipemia up to total triglyceride concentrations of 8000 mg/L did not interfere wi th the homogeneous HDL-C assay. The homogeneous HDL-C assay was easy t o handle and produced similar results in all laboratories participatin g in this study. This method will significantly facilitate the screeni ng of individuals at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.