Transient nature of interference effects from heterophile antibodies: examples of interference with cardiac marker measurements

Clin Chem Lab Med. 2000 Jan;38(1):33-9. doi: 10.1515/CCLM.2000.006.

Abstract

Two-site immunoassay methods have become the standard technique for measurement of a wide variety of drugs, hormones, and cell proteins. One limitation of these methods is their susceptibility to interference from heterophilic antibodies present in the sera of some patients. Human anti-murine antibodies represent a common heterophile antibody that can bind to mouse immunoglobulin and as well as to immunoglobulin from other species. While the mechanism of human anti-murine antibody interference has been well characterized, the time course over which this interference occurs and the susceptibility of different immunoassay procedures to human anti-murine antibody interference from patients with human anti-murine antibody have not been as well described. We report on the time course of interference in assays for cardiac markers for two patients with human anti-murine antibodies. We measured creatine kinase MB isoenzyme (CKMB) and troponins I and T using three different vendors' immunoassay procedures. Our results demonstrate that assay interference due to human anti-murine antibody interference is a transient phenomenon. In one of our patients, human anti-murine antibody interference appeared suddenly, peaked approximately 9 days following its appearance, and gradually resolved over the next 3 weeks. In addition, we found that immunoassay methods from different vendors can show highly variable interference effects when human anti-murine antibody-containing specimens are analyzed.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Heterophile / immunology*
  • Biomarkers / analysis*
  • Constriction, Pathologic / blood
  • Constriction, Pathologic / enzymology
  • Constriction, Pathologic / immunology
  • Endarterectomy
  • Female
  • Heart Diseases / blood
  • Heart Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Heart Diseases / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunoenzyme Techniques / methods*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Syncope / blood
  • Syncope / enzymology
  • Syncope / immunology
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Antibodies, Heterophile
  • Biomarkers