Biotin interference in TSH, FT4, and FT3 assays based on the LOCI technology: Identifying interference by dilution.

BACKGROUND: Although biotin interferences in TSH, FT3, FT4, and other biotinylated antibody-based assays manufactured by Roche Diagnostics have been well studied, there are relatively few reports on biotin interference in biotin-based assays manufactured by other companies. We investigated biotin interferences in TSH, FT4, and FT3 assays based on the LOCI (luminescent oxygen channeling assay) technology using the Dimension Vista 1500 analyzer (Siemens). METHODS: We prepared four serum pools using leftover specimens. Three serum pools were prepared initially for the original study but the 4th pool was prepared three months later. The aliquots of serum pool one and two were supplemented with various amounts of biotin (50 -1200 ng/mL) followed by determination of TSH, FT4, and FT3 concentrations. The aliquots of third pool were also supplemented with biotin to investigate whether 1:3 dilution could identify biotin interference. Aliquots of serum pool four were supplemented with biotin in order to study reproducibility of our original data. RESULTS: We observed significantly elevated FT3 levels at biotin concentration of 100 ng/mL. In contrast, FT4 levels were falsely elevated but TSH levels were falsely decreased at a biotin level of 500 ng/mL. We also observed nonlinearity in dilution experiment. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that FT3 assay is most susceptible to biotin interference (threshold: 100 ng/mL) while the FT4 and TSH assays are less affected (threshold: 500 ng/mL). In addition, we also observed nonlinearity upon 1:3 dilution, which may indicate biotin interference (or interference from other compounds).

Taking Advantage of Assay Harmonization, Biotin Interference in the LOCI Digoxin Assay Could Be Eliminated by Using the ADVIA Centaur Digoxin Assay.

Biotin at elevated concentration interferes with immunoassays that utilize biotin in assay design. We earlier reported interference of biotin in the luminescent oxygen channeling assay (LOCI) digoxin assay which utilizes biotinylated antibody against digoxin. However, the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay, also manufactured by Siemens Diagnostics, does not utilize biotin in assay design. We hypothesized that if the LOCI and the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay are harmonized, then interference of biotin in the LOCI digoxin assay could be eliminated by using the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay. We analyzed 25 specimens from patients receiving digoxin using both assays to investigate harmonization between these two assays. Then aliquots of drug-free serum pool were supplemented with various biotin concentrations (range: 10 ng/mL to 2000 ng/mL) followed by measuring apparent digoxin levels using the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay. In another set of experiments, aliquots of a serum digoxin pool were supplemented with biotin (10-2000 ng/mL) and digoxin concentrations were measured by the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay. We observed an excellent correlation between digoxin values obtained by the LOCI digoxin assay (reference method) and the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay (y= 1.0514 x+0.1083, r=0.99) indicating that both assays are harmonized. We did not observe any interference of biotin even at a highly elevated concentration of 2000 ng/mL with the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay. We conclude that taking advantage of assay harmonization, interference of biotin in the LOCI digoxin assay can be eliminated by using the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay.

Convallatoxin, the active cardiac glycoside of lily of the valley, minimally affects the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay.

OBJECTIVE: Lily of the valley is a poisonous plant due to the presence of the cardiac glycoside convallatoxin which is known to interfere with serum digoxin measurement using the LOCI digoxin assay and other digoxin assays. We evaluated potential interference of convallatoxin as well as extract of lily of the valley with the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay by comparing results obtained using the LOCI digoxin assay. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Aliquots of a drug-free serum pool and a digoxin serum pool were supplemented with nanograms to 1 µg quantities of convallatoxin or 1.0 and 2.5 µL of lily of the valley extract per milliliter of serum followed by measurement of digoxin concentrations using the LOCI and ADVIA Centaur digoxin assays. RESULTS: Apparent digoxin concentrations were minimal using the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay when aliquots of drug-free serum were supplemented with convallatoxin or extract of lily of the valley but apparent digoxin levels were very high using the LOCI digoxin assay. Moreover, minimal interference in serum digoxin measurement using the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay was observed when aliquots of serum digoxin pool were further supplemented with lily of the valley extract. As expected, the LOCI digoxin assay showed significant interference of convallatoxin in serum digoxin measurement. CONCLUSIONS: Significant interference of convallatoxin in serum digoxin measurement using the LOCI digoxin assay could be minimized using the ADVIA Centaur digoxin assay.