title: Evaluation of a third party enzymatic ammonia method for use on the Roche Cobas 6000 (c501) automated platform.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adaptation of the Randox Enzymatic Manual UV Ammonia method to be used on the Roche Cobas 6000 (c501) automated analyzer platform.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Randox ammonia reagent was evaluated for precision, linearity, accuracy and interference from hemolysis, icterus and lipemia on the Roche c501 analyzer. Comparison studies were conducted for the Randox reagent between Roche c501, Siemens Vista, Ortho Vitros 250, and Beckman DxC methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Randox reagent demonstrates acceptable within-run (L1=65 μmol/L, CV 3.4% L2=168 μmol/L, CV 1.9%) and between-run precision (L1=29 μmol/L, CV 7.3% L2=102 μmol/L, CV 3.0%), Analytical Measurement Range (7-940 μmol/L), and accuracy. The method interference profile is superior for the Randox method (hemolysis index up to 600, icteric index up to 60, lipemic index up to 100) as compared to the Roche method (hemolysis index up to 200, icteric index up to 10, lipemic index up to 50). Comparison was very good between the Randox reagent and two other wet chemistry platforms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Randox Enzymatic Manual UV Ammonia reagent is an available alternative to the Roche Cobas c501 reagent. The method is more robust to endogenous interferences and less prone to instrument error flags, thus allowing the majority of clinical specimens to be reported without additional sample handling at our institution.
authors.affiliation: Calgary Laboratory Services, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada. Electronic address: Isolde.seidenlong@cls.ab.ca.
authors.forename: Isolde
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Seiden-Long
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Kareena
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schnabl
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Skoropadyk
authors.affiliation: Calgary Laboratory Services, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Nola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lennon
authors.affiliation: Calgary Laboratory Services, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Arlayne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McKeage
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000032:analysis*; D001331:Automation; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000641:Ammonia
keywords: Ammonia; Application development; Automated analyzers; Enzymatic assays; Method evaluation