title: Comparison of two automated nephelometers.
abstract: The intercalibration precision and linearity were determined for two representative analytes, apolipoprotein A1 (apo A1) and immunoglobulin G (IgG), on the Beckman Array and the Behring Nephelometer 100 (BN-100). For two of nine samples analyzed, poor precision was observed for IgG with the Array. The poor precision for these two samples is attributed to large systematic shifts. A statistical non-linearity was observed for apo A1 with the BN-100, but this non-linearity does not exclude use of this assay for clinical diagnosis. Method comparisons were done for 12 analytes: apo A1, apo B, IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE, C3, C4, albumin, C-reactive protein, alpha-1-antitrypsin, and ceruloplasmin. These comparisons showed proportional biases of > 10% for seven of 12 analytes. Furthermore, correlation coefficients were < 0.96 for seven of 12 analytes. We conclude that comparing results obtained from the two different nephelometers is of only limited value for the individual patient.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pathology Department, Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Emancipator
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Elin
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Fleisher
mesh_terms: D016632:Apolipoprotein A-I / Q000032:analysis; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D009391:Nephelometry and Turbidimetry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D016632:Apolipoprotein A-I; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D011506:Proteins