title: Analytical performances of commercial ELISA-kits for IL-2, IL-6 and TNF-alpha. A WHO study.
abstract: The determination of cytokine levels in biological fluids by accurate and sensitive methods is an absolute need to be able to define the involvement of these mediators in various clinical situations. To test if this goal was achieved with ELISA kits, a comparative study was undertaken using various commercial kits (6 for IL-2, 8 for IL-6 and 9 for TNF-alpha). The major aims of the work were to critically analyze the analytical performances of the kits and to illustrate some of the pitfalls the users may face. Substantial differences were noted in terms of sensitivity and behaviour of commercial standards versus international reference preparations. These results clearly illustrate the urgent need for a real standardization of immunoassays for cytokine quantitation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Immunologie, CH Lyon-Sud, Pierre Bénite, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bienvenu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Coulon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Doche
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gutowski
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Grau
mesh_terms: D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha