| We describe a simple iminunoturbidimetric method
for quantifying lipoprotein(a) in serum based on latex-enhanced
particle agglutination technology. Carboxylated latex particles
(diameter 240 nm) covalently coated with F(ab')2 fragments of
anti-lipoprotein(a) antibodies are incubated with the sample for
5 min at 37°C, and the resulting agglutination is quantified by
measuring the change of turbidity produced at 700 nm. The
assay is rapid, precise and fully automated on the Hitachi 911
analyser. The assay range is about 0.03—0.9 g/l. Average analytical
recovery was 97.8%. Precision (CV) ranged from 1.9 to
3.1% at different lipoprotein(a) values. There was no interference
from bilirubin, Intfalipid®, haemoglobin, plasminogen or
apolipoprotein B. Comparisons with a latex nephelometric assay
carried out on the Behring nephelometer analyser, and with
three commercially available methods, a radioimmunoassay
and two ELISA assays, gave good correlations (r > 0.95), although
a large among-method variation in lipoprotein(a) values
was found. We conclude that the proposed latex turbidimetric
immunoassay method is suitable for routine use in clinical
laboratories. |