Indagine sui metodi di determinazione e sulle modalità di refertazione dell’attività catalitica degli enzimi nel siero

AUTORI

ABSTRACT

Survey of analytical methods and result reporting for the measurement of catalytic activity of serum enzymes

The method-dependent variability of results of enzyme assays hampers the use of common reference intervals and clinical decision thresholds.
Such a situation may confuse the understanding of patient results. Furthermore, the use of analytical results may be jeopardized by heterogeneity in terminology and units.
The aim of this study was to check the spread in Italian laboratories of different methods for measurement of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total and pancreatic a-amylase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), cholinesterase, creatine kinase (CK), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), g-glutamyltransferase (GGT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and pancreatic lipase. 91%, 76%, 67%, 52%, 37% and 36% of laboratories adopted the relevant IFCC principle for CK, GGT, LDH, a-amylase, AST and ALT measurements, respectively.
80% of laboratories used aminometylpropanol-buffer methods for ALP assays, whereas butyrylthiocholine and 1,2-diglycerides were the most widely used substrates for cholinesterase and lipase assays.
The traceability of calibration was not always assured, although the IFCC analytical principles were used. All laboratories used the U/L unit, but differences in terminology, reference intervals and threshold limits were observed for all the surveyed enzymes.

BIBLIOGRAFIA