Current practices in antinuclear antibody testing: results from the Belgian External Quality Assessment Scheme
-
Marjan Van Blerk
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to assess the state-of-the-art of antinuclear antibody (ANA) testing as practiced in the Belgian and Luxembourg laboratories, using the results obtained in the Belgian National External Quality Assessment Scheme from 2000 to 2005.
Methods: During this period, nine samples with different specificities were sent for analysis. Participants were surveyed for methodology used and were asked to report staining pattern and titer of ANAs. In 2002, an attempt was made to improve the comparability of quantitative ANA results by the provision of a commercial reference material and to relate observed differences to methodology.
Results: With one exception, all participants employed a microscope-based indirect immunofluorescence assay with human epithelial cell line 2 cells. Most laboratories were accurate in describing the pattern. The percentage of unacceptable answers was greater for samples with borderline levels of antibody and for samples showing a cytoplasmic pattern. An improvement in the detection of anticentromere antibodies was observed. For all samples, a wide range of titers was reported. The provision of the secondary reference preparation led to improved inter-laboratory concordance. Comparison of methodology variables revealed a correlation between unstandardized titers and the power of the lamp of the microscope and the use of a dark room.
Conclusions: The EQAS results presented in this work provide valuable insights into the state of the art of ANA testing as practiced in the Belgian and Luxembourg Laboratories and illustrate the important value of a national EQAS for ANA testing as a tool to improve performance and interlaboratory comparability of laboratory results.
Clin Chem Lab Med 2009;47:102–8.
©2009 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Reviews
- Molecular markers detecting circulating melanoma cells by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction: methodological pitfalls and clinical relevance
- HIV-GB virus C co-infection: an overview
- Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics
- Relationships between C-reactive protein concentration and genotype in healthy volunteers
- SYBR Green-based real-time PCR assay for detection of VKORC1 and CYP2C9 polymorphisms that modulate warfarin dose requirement
- Functional polymorphisms in ACE and CYP11B2 genes and atrial fibrillation in patients with hypertensive heart disease
- No effect of MDR1 C3435T polymorphism on oral pharmacokinetics of telmisartan in 19 healthy Chinese male subjects
- A novel large deletion and three polymorphisms in the FECH gene associated with erythropoietic protoporphyria
- Aging and endothelial progenitor cell telomere length in healthy men
- Gln222Arg (A2317G) polymorphism in the deoxyribonuclease I gene exhibits ethnic and functional differences
- Mutation screening of the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) and the ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) genes by multiplex PCR amplification and sequencing
- General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
- Nitrated apolipoprotein A-I, a potential new cardiovascular marker, is markedly increased in low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol subjects
- Relationships of serum haptoglobin concentration with HbA1c and glycated albumin concentrations in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients
- Multi-elements (aluminium, copper, magnesium, manganese, selenium and zinc) determination in serum by dynamic reaction cell-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
- Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as an early marker of acute kidney injury in critically ill multiple trauma patients
- Validation and Outcome Studies
- Validation for quantification of immunoglobulins by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry
- Albumin-based or albumin-linked calibrators cause a positive bias in serum proteins assayed by the biuret method
- Current practices in antinuclear antibody testing: results from the Belgian External Quality Assessment Scheme
- Verification of the analytical range of a new reagent for full-range C-reactive protein determination
- Measurement uncertainty in manual differential leukocyte counting
- Letters to the Editor
- Falsely elevated carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level due to heterophilic antibody interference but not rheumatoid factor: a case report
- An unusual interference in parathormone assay caused by anti-goat IgG: a case report
Articles in the same Issue
- Reviews
- Molecular markers detecting circulating melanoma cells by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction: methodological pitfalls and clinical relevance
- HIV-GB virus C co-infection: an overview
- Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics
- Relationships between C-reactive protein concentration and genotype in healthy volunteers
- SYBR Green-based real-time PCR assay for detection of VKORC1 and CYP2C9 polymorphisms that modulate warfarin dose requirement
- Functional polymorphisms in ACE and CYP11B2 genes and atrial fibrillation in patients with hypertensive heart disease
- No effect of MDR1 C3435T polymorphism on oral pharmacokinetics of telmisartan in 19 healthy Chinese male subjects
- A novel large deletion and three polymorphisms in the FECH gene associated with erythropoietic protoporphyria
- Aging and endothelial progenitor cell telomere length in healthy men
- Gln222Arg (A2317G) polymorphism in the deoxyribonuclease I gene exhibits ethnic and functional differences
- Mutation screening of the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) and the ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) genes by multiplex PCR amplification and sequencing
- General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
- Nitrated apolipoprotein A-I, a potential new cardiovascular marker, is markedly increased in low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol subjects
- Relationships of serum haptoglobin concentration with HbA1c and glycated albumin concentrations in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients
- Multi-elements (aluminium, copper, magnesium, manganese, selenium and zinc) determination in serum by dynamic reaction cell-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
- Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as an early marker of acute kidney injury in critically ill multiple trauma patients
- Validation and Outcome Studies
- Validation for quantification of immunoglobulins by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry
- Albumin-based or albumin-linked calibrators cause a positive bias in serum proteins assayed by the biuret method
- Current practices in antinuclear antibody testing: results from the Belgian External Quality Assessment Scheme
- Verification of the analytical range of a new reagent for full-range C-reactive protein determination
- Measurement uncertainty in manual differential leukocyte counting
- Letters to the Editor
- Falsely elevated carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level due to heterophilic antibody interference but not rheumatoid factor: a case report
- An unusual interference in parathormone assay caused by anti-goat IgG: a case report
