title: Analysis of serum angiotensin-converting enzyme.
abstract: Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (SACE) levels are influenced by genetic polymorphism. Interpretation of serum levels with the appropriate genotypic reference range improves the diagnostic sensitivity of the assay for sarcoidosis. SACE assays are performed by a large number of routine clinical laboratories. However, there is no external quality assessment (EQA) for SACE other than an informal regional scheme. This showed analytical performance of SACE assays to be poor, with a diversity of reference ranges, leading to widely disparate clinical classification of EQA samples. Genetic polymorphism combined with poor analytical performance suggest that perhaps SACE assays should revert to being the province of specialized laboratories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8RF, UK. bmuller@hhnt.org
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Muller
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D009842:Oligopeptides; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011786:Quality Control; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D009842:Oligopeptides; C038275:2-furanacryloyl-phenylalanyl-glycyl-glycine; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A