BACKGROUND: To identify dialysis patients with low fetuin-A levels, a sensitive immunoluminometric assay (ILMA) was developed. METHODS: For the two-site ILMA, one monoclonal antibody was coated to polystyrene beads and one polyclonal antibody was labelled with acridinium ester. RESULTS: The lower detection threshold was 0.013 g/L, with the normal range 0.20-0.87 g/L (arithmetic mean 0.437 +/- 0.118 g/L). Serum fetuin-A levels in the dialysis patients were significantly lower (arithmetic mean: 0.352 +/- 0.099 g/L, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This ILMA has been proved to be a reliable method for the determination of serum fetuin-A concentrations in dialysis patients.
BACKGROUND: To identify dialysis patients with low fetuin-A levels, a sensitive immunoluminometric assay (ILMA) was developed. METHODS: For the two-site ILMA, one monoclonal antibody was coated to polystyrene beads and one polyclonal antibody was labelled with acridinium ester. RESULTS: The lower detection threshold was 0.013 g/L, with the normal range 0.20-0.87 g/L (arithmetic mean 0.437 +/- 0.118 g/L). Serum fetuin-A levels in the dialysis patients were significantly lower (arithmetic mean: 0.352 +/- 0.099 g/L, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This ILMA has been proved to be a reliable method for the determination of serum fetuin-A concentrations in dialysis patients.