Comparison of three analytical platforms for quantification of the neurofilament light chain in blood samples: ELISA, electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and Simoa
-
Jens Kuhle
,
Christian Barro
Abstract
Background:
Neuronal damage is the morphological substrate of persisting neurological disability. Neurofilaments (Nf) are specific cytoskeletal proteins of neurons and their quantification has shown encouraging results as a biomarker for axonal injury.
Methods:
We aimed at comparing a widely used conventional ELISA for Nf light chain (NfL) with an electrochemiluminescence-based method (ECL assay) and a newly developed single-molecule array (Simoa) method in clinically relevant cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples.
Results:
Analytical sensitivity was 0.62 pg/mL for Simoa, 15.6 pg/mL for the ECL assay, and 78.0 pg/mL for the ELISA. Correlations between paired CSF and serum samples were strongest for Simoa (r=0.88, p<0.001) and the ECL assay (r=0.78, p<0.001) and weaker for ELISA measurements (r=0.38, p=0.030). CSF NfL measurements between the platforms were highly correlated (r=1.0, p<0.001). Serum NfL levels were highly related between ECL assay and Simoa (r=0.86, p<0.001), and this was less visible between ELISA-ECL assay (r=0.41, p=0.018) and ELISA-Simoa (r=0.43, p=0.013). Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients had significantly higher serum NfL levels than controls when measured with Simoa (p=0.001) but not with the other platforms.
Conclusions:
We found Simoa to be more sensitive than ELISA or the ECL assay. Our results support the feasibility of quantifying NfL in serum; the results correlate with the more-established CSF NfL test. The highly sensitive Simoa technology deserves further studies in larger patient cohorts to clarify whether serum NfL could be used in the future to measure disease severity and determine prognosis or response to treatment interventions in neurological diseases.
Acknowledgments:
We thank M. Limberg for technical assistance.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: The study was supported by grants from the Swiss MS Society, Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant/Award Number: ‘320030_160221’), Bayer (Switzerland) AG, Genzyme, Novartis, Swedish Research Council, VINNOVA, the Torsten Söderberg Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Swedish State Support for Clinical Research, and Frimurarestiftelsen.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) 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.
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©2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Serum myoglobin immunoassays: obsolete or still clinically useful?
- Reviews
- Kounis syndrome: an update on epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapeutic management
- What do we know about homocysteine and exercise? A review from the literature
- Mini Review
- Osteocalcin as a potential risk biomarker for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases
- Opinion Paper
- Statistical approach for optimization of external quality assurance (EQA) studies of molecular and serological viral diagnostics
- EFLM Article
- Sample collections from healthy volunteers for biological variation estimates’ update: a new project undertaken by the Working Group on Biological Variation established by the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
- General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
- Analyte stability during the total testing process: studies of vitamins A, D and E by LC-MS/MS
- Improvement in the predictive ability of the Intermountain Mortality Risk Score by adding routinely collected laboratory tests such as albumin, bilirubin, and white cell differential count
- Cystatin C provides a better estimate of the effect of glomerular filtration rate on serum human epididymis protein 4 concentrations
- Verification of the harmonization of human epididymis protein 4 assays
- Clinical utility of urinary liver-type fatty acid binding protein measured by latex-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay in chronic kidney disease
- Comparison of three analytical platforms for quantification of the neurofilament light chain in blood samples: ELISA, electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and Simoa
- Reference Values and Biological Variations
- Distribution of antiphospholipid antibodies in a large population-based German cohort
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Serum protein S100 as marker of postoperative delirium after off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery: secondary analysis of two prospective randomized controlled trials
- Infectious Diseases
- Copeptin predicts 10-year all-cause mortality in community patients: a 10-year prospective cohort study
- Clinical and laboratory findings in the diagnosis of right lower quadrant abdominal pain: outcome analysis of the APPAC trial
- Letters to the Editor
- Why a new algorithm using high-sensitivity cardiac troponins for the rapid rule-out of NSTEMI is not adapted to routine practice
- Optimal collection tubes for plasma glucose determination: confusion reigns supreme
- Long-term stability of serum samples positive for carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) routinely stored at −20 °C
- Seasonal variations in plasma free metanephrine concentrations are not evident in the West of Ireland
- Potential errors in the determination of urinary ammonium by formol titration
- Interference by biological anti-cancer drugs in electrophoretic and immunofixation techniques
- A point mutation in the thiopurine S-methyltransferase gene that led to exon 5 deletion in the transcribed mRNA
- Detection of the heterozygote of hemoglobin Constant Spring by α-thalassemia immunochromatographic strip test
- Automated CH50 liposome-based immunoassay: consideration in dilution and validation of reference interval
- Theranos phenomenon – Part 5: Theranos’ presentation at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry Annual Conference 2016
- Congress Abstracts
- 58th National Congress of the Hungarian Society of Laboratory Medicine
- The 4th Joint EFLM-UEMS Congress “Laboratory Medicine at the Clinical Interface” Warsaw, Poland, 21th–24th September, 2016
- Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
