Interference of anti-streptavidin antibodies in immunoassays: a very rare phenomenon or a more common finding?

Nick Verougstraete; Mario Berth; Mario Vaneechoutte; Joris Delanghe; Nico Callewaert

doi:10.1515/cclm-2019-1064

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Article

Interference of anti-streptavidin antibodies in immunoassays: a very rare phenomenon or a more common finding?

Nick Verougstraete , Mario Berth , Mario Vaneechoutte , Joris Delanghe and Nico Callewaert

Published/Copyright: November 29, 2019

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From the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) Volume 58 Issue 10

Abstract

Background

Anti-streptavidin antibodies (ASA) may cause analytical interference on certain immunoassay platforms. Streptavidin is purified from the non-pathogenic Streptomyces avidinii soil bacterium. In contrast to interference with biotin, ASA interference is supposed to be much rarer. In-depth studies on this topic are lacking. Therefore, we carried out an analysis toward the prevalence and the possible underlying cause of this interference.

Methods

Anti-streptavidin (AS)-immunoglobulin G (IgG) and AS-IgM concentrations were determined on multiple samples from two patients with ASA interference and on 500 random samples. On a subset of 100 samples, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was measured on a Cobas analyzer before and after performing a neutralization protocol which removes ASA. The relationship between the ratio of TSH after neutralization/TSH before neutralization and the ASA concentration was evaluated. Subsequently, an extract of S. avidinii colonies was analyzed using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunoblotting.

Results

A positive correlation between AS-IgM concentrations and TSH ratio was obtained. Eight samples out of 500 exceeded the calculated AS-IgM cut-off value. In comparison to the AS-IgM concentrations in the population, titers from the two described cases clearly stood out. The isolated cases represent the end of a broader spectrum as there is a continuum of AS-IgM reactivity in the general population. We could not observe any differences in the immunoblot patterns between the cases and controls, which may indicate the general presence of ASA in the population.

Conclusions

Interference due to ASA is more prevalent than initially thought and is caused by IgM antibodies.

Keywords: anti-streptavidin antibodies; biotin; interference; thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)

Corresponding author: Prof. Dr. Joris, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Ghent University, C. Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Ghent, Belgium, Phone: +3293322956, Fax: +3293324985

aJoris Delanghe and Nico Callewaert contributed equally to this work.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Elke Lecocq, Geert Esprit and Sofie Willaert for their skillful assistance.

Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
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 writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Supplementary Material

The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2019-1064).

Received: 2019-10-14

Accepted: 2019-11-01

Published Online: 2019-11-29

Published in Print: 2020-09-25

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Supplementary material

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https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2019-1064

Keywords for this article

anti-streptavidin antibodies; biotin; interference; thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)