Comparison of the Sensitivity of 2 Automated Immunoassays with Immunofixation Electrophoresis for Detecting Urine Bence Jones Proteins

Microfluidic chip-capillary electrophoresis device for the determination of urinary metabolites and proteins

Microfluidic chip-CE (MC-CE) devices have caught recent attention for diagnostic applications in urine. This is due to the successes reported in handling real urine samples by integrating microfluidic chips (MC) with analyte enrichment and sample cleanup to CE with high separation efficiency and sensitive analyte detection. Here, we review the determination of urinary metabolites and proteins by MC-CE devices within the past 7 years. The application scope for MC-CE integrated devices was found to exceed the use of either technique alone, showing comparable performance to laser-induced fluorescence detection using less sensitive UV detectors, offering the flexibility to handle difficult urine samples with on-chip dilution and online standard addition and delivering enhanced performance as compared with commercial microfluidic chip electrophoresis chips.

Serum free light chain immunoassay as an adjunct to serum protein electrophoresis and immunofixation electrophoresis in the detection of multiple myeloma and other B-cell malignancies

BACKGROUND

Protein and immunofixation electrophoresis of serum and urine are established as diagnostic aids for identifying monoclonal gammopathies. However, many patient sera sent to laboratories are not accompanied by urine samples and recent reports suggest the use of serum free light chain (sFLC) analysis in combination with serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) and immunofixation electrophoresis (lFE) could eliminate the need for urinalysis. The aim of the study was to assess the utility of sFLC measurement in addition to serum protein electrophoresis in the identification of patients with B-cell malignancies.

METHODS

A total of 952 serum samples were analysed by serum protein electrophoresis and those with abnormal bands were analysed by immunofixation. sFLCs were measured in a retrospective manner by automated assay.

RESULTS

In our study of 952 patient sera, it was found that FLC analysis identified 23 additional cases of B-cell malignancies which were missed by SPE.

CONCLUSIONS

The additional malignancies identified by sFLC analysis add support for its inclusion in the routine screening protocol for B-cell malignancies.