The in vitro stability of novel cardiovascular and sepsis biomarkers at ambient temperature

Kevin M. Goode; Rachel Nicholls; Pierpaolo Pellicori; Andrew L. Clark; John G.F. Cleland

doi:10.1515/cclm-2013-0767

Article

The in vitro stability of novel cardiovascular and sepsis biomarkers at ambient temperature

Kevin M. Goode , Rachel Nicholls , Pierpaolo Pellicori , Andrew L. Clark and John G.F. Cleland

Published/Copyright: January 9, 2014

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From the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) Volume 52 Issue 6

Abstract

Background: The in vitro stability of a biomarker can determine whether it should be used in clinical practice where long delays between sampling and assay are common. We measured the in vitro stability of five novel biomarkers that are being evaluated for their diagnostic and/or prognostic utility in patients with heart failure: mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP), mid-regional pro-adreno-medullin (MR-proADM), C-terminal pro-endothelin-1 (CT-proET-1), C-terminal pro-arginine vasopressin (copeptin) and ultrasensitive procalcitonin (PCT).

Methods: Peripheral venous blood samples were obtained from 19 patients with chronic heart failure into four EDTA tubes. The first tubes were centrifuged immediately at 4°C with the other tubes stored at 20°C for 4, 24 or 72 hours (h) before centrifuging. Supernatant plasma was frozen and stored at −80°C until assay. The levels of analyte in samples processed with and without delay were compared using correlation analysis, paired t-tests and Bland-Altman plots.

Results: Copeptin and PCT were stable up to 72 h at 20°C in whole blood and MR-proANP and MR-proADM up to 24 h. However, CT-proET-1 showed some signs of degradation after only 4 h with 94% of analyte recovered after 24 h, dropping to 80% after 72 h.

Conclusions: MR-proANP, MR-proADM, copeptin and PCT are stable biomarkers and therefore suitable for introduction into routine clinical practice in a primary or secondary care setting where delays in sample preparation and assay are likely. Ideally, samples for measurement of CT-proET-1 should be centrifuged soon after venepuncture but the analyte is stable enough for most routine clinical purposes.

Keywords: C-terminal pro-arginine vasopressin; C-terminal pro-endothelin-1; in vitro stability; mid-regional pro-adreno-medullin; mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide; ultrasensitive procalcitonin

Corresponding author: Dr. Kevin M. Goode, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Hull, Room 101, Aire Building, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK, E-mail: k.m.goode@hull.ac.uk

Acknowledgments

P. Pellicori was receiving a grant from Fondazione Umberto Veronesi whilst involved in this research paper. The authors wish to thank Dr. Daniyal Ahmed for his assistance with sample preparation.

Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ conflict of interest disclosure: The authors stated that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article. Research funding played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

Research funding: J. Cleland has received research funding from Thermo Fisher Scientific (formerly B.R.A.H.M.S). R. Nicholls was employed using this research funding. K. Goode, P. Pellicori and A. Clark have no conflicts of interest.

Employment or leadership: None declared.

Honorarium: None declared.

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Received: 2013-9-13

Accepted: 2013-12-2

Published Online: 2014-1-9

Published in Print: 2014-6-1

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2013-0767

Keywords for this article

C-terminal pro-arginine vasopressin; C-terminal pro-endothelin-1; in vitro stability; mid-regional pro-adreno-medullin; mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide; ultrasensitive procalcitonin