Optimization of hemolysis, icterus and lipemia interference thresholds for 35 clinical chemistry assays.

OBJECTIVES: Interference of chemistry assays by hemolysis, icterus and lipemia (HIL) was investigated on the Abbott Alinity c system. We sought to empirically establish optimized HIL index thresholds for the purposes of reporting HIL interference in a hospital laboratory and advising clinicians on the interpretation of laboratory results in the presence of hemolysis, icterus or lipemia. METHODS: HIL index values measured by spectrophotometry were compared with concentrations of hemoglobin, bilirubin and Intralipid. HIL interference of 35 Abbott Alinity chemistry assays was subsequently investigated by pairwise comparison of test results in pooled serum or plasma with those in test preparations spiked with hemolysate, bilirubin or Intralipid. Data generated from the interference experiments were critically assessed according to assay-specific acceptance criteria adapted from multiple sources, and optimized thresholds for HIL indices were established. RESULTS: Correlations between HIL index values and their corresponding concentrations of hemoglobin, bilirubin and Intralipid were, in general, very good within the ranges of interferent concentrations tested. Hemolysis significantly affected 12 of 35 assays, whereas bilirubin and Intralipid interfered with four and three assays, respectively. Both the direction and magnitude of Intralipid interference with the direct bilirubin assay were dependent on the concentrations of the analyte. CONCLUSIONS: HIL interference of the Abbott Alinity clinical chemistry assays investigated in this study was not uncommon. At present, there are no universally accepted criteria for defining significant assay interference for clinical practice. In establishing acceptance criteria for defining assay interference, each assay should be assessed according to both analytical criteria and clinical relevance.

IGF1 and its binding proteins 3 and 1 are differentially associated with metabolic syndrome in older men.

OBJECTIVE: Circulating IGF1 declines with age, and reduced circulating IGF1 is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in some but not all studies. The relationship between IGF-binding proteins 3 and 1 (IGFBP3 and IGFBP1) with risk of cardiovascular disease remains unclear. We sought to examine associations between IGF1, IGFBP3 and IGFBP1 with metabolic syndrome in older men. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of 3980 community-dwelling men aged >or=70 years. Methods Morning plasma levels of IGF1, IGFBP3 and IGFBP1 were assayed. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATPIII) criteria. RESULTS: For IGF1 and IGFBP3, there was a U-shaped relationship, with middle quintiles possessing the lowest odds ratios (OR) for metabolic syndrome (reference Q1, Q3 IGF1: OR 0.74, 95% confidence intervals 0.57-0.96, Q3 IGFBP3: OR 0.67, 0.51-0.87). Increasing IGFBP1 was associated with reduced risk of metabolic syndrome with a dose-response gradient (reference Q1, OR for Q2 to Q5 IGFBP1: 0.56, 0.33, 0.22 and 0.12 respectively, P<0.001). IGF1 was associated with two, IGFBP1 with four and IGFBP3 with all five components of the metabolic syndrome. The ratio of IGF1/IGFBP3 was not associated with metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: In older men, both lower and higher IGF1 and IGFBP3 levels may be metabolically unfavourable. IGFBP1, as a marker of insulin sensitivity, is relevant in the assessment of metabolic syndrome, while the IGF1/IGFBP3 ratio is less informative. Longitudinal follow-up of this cohort would be needed to determine whether these distributions of IGF1, IGFBP3 and IGFBP1 predict incidence of cardiovascular events during male ageing.