1. The Alzheimer's Association external quality control program for cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers.
- Author
-
Mattsson N, Andreasson U, Persson S, Arai H, Batish SD, Bernardini S, Bocchio-Chiavetto L, Blankenstein MA, Carrillo MC, Chalbot S, Coart E, Chiasserini D, Cutler N, Dahlfors G, Duller S, Fagan AM, Forlenza O, Frisoni GB, Galasko D, Galimberti D, Hampel H, Handberg A, Heneka MT, Herskovits AZ, Herukka SK, Holtzman DM, Humpel C, Hyman BT, Iqbal K, Jucker M, Kaeser SA, Kaiser E, Kapaki E, Kidd D, Klivenyi P, Knudsen CS, Kummer MP, Lui J, Lladó A, Lewczuk P, Li QX, Martins R, Masters C, McAuliffe J, Mercken M, Moghekar A, Molinuevo JL, Montine TJ, Nowatzke W, O'Brien R, Otto M, Paraskevas GP, Parnetti L, Petersen RC, Prvulovic D, de Reus HP, Rissman RA, Scarpini E, Stefani A, Soininen H, Schröder J, Shaw LM, Skinningsrud A, Skrogstad B, Spreer A, Talib L, Teunissen C, Trojanowski JQ, Tumani H, Umek RM, Van Broeck B, Vanderstichele H, Vecsei L, Verbeek MM, Windisch M, Zhang J, Zetterberg H, and Blennow K
- Subjects
- Amyloid beta-Peptides cerebrospinal fluid, Biological Assay methods, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Humans, Peptide Fragments cerebrospinal fluid, Phosphorylation, Reproducibility of Results, Sweden, Time Factors, tau Proteins cerebrospinal fluid, Alzheimer Disease cerebrospinal fluid, Alzheimer Disease diagnosis, Biomarkers cerebrospinal fluid, Quality Control
- Abstract
Background: The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers amyloid β (Aβ)-42, total-tau (T-tau), and phosphorylated-tau (P-tau) demonstrate good diagnostic accuracy for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there are large variations in biomarker measurements between studies, and between and within laboratories. The Alzheimer's Association has initiated a global quality control program to estimate and monitor variability of measurements, quantify batch-to-batch assay variations, and identify sources of variability. In this article, we present the results from the first two rounds of the program., Methods: The program is open for laboratories using commercially available kits for Aβ, T-tau, or P-tau. CSF samples (aliquots of pooled CSF) are sent for analysis several times a year from the Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory at the Mölndal campus of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Each round consists of three quality control samples., Results: Forty laboratories participated. Twenty-six used INNOTEST enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits, 14 used Luminex xMAP with the INNO-BIA AlzBio3 kit (both measure Aβ-(1-42), P-tau(181P), and T-tau), and 5 used Meso Scale Discovery with the Aβ triplex (AβN-42, AβN-40, and AβN-38) or T-tau kits. The total coefficients of variation between the laboratories were 13% to 36%. Five laboratories analyzed the samples six times on different occasions. Within-laboratory precisions differed considerably between biomarkers within individual laboratories., Conclusions: Measurements of CSF AD biomarkers show large between-laboratory variability, likely caused by factors related to analytical procedures and the analytical kits. Standardization of laboratory procedures and efforts by kit vendors to increase kit performance might lower variability, and will likely increase the usefulness of CSF AD biomarkers., (Copyright © 2011 The Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF