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Articles |
1
Department of Neurosciences, and
2
Laboratory "Baldi e Riberi", University Hospital "Molinette", Via Cherasco 15, I-10126, Turin, Italy.
a Author for correspondence. Fax Int +31 11 6963487; e-mail chinigo{at}golgi.molinette.unito.it
We developed a modified anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody (Ab) assay based on a radioreceptor assay and a calibration curve. We compared the analytical and clinical performances of this modified assay with those of the conventional anti-AChR Ab radioreceptor assay. Serum specimens were from patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) (n = 156) and from control subjects (n = 106). The modified assay demonstrated lower within-assay (4.06.6%) and between-assay (5.37.8%) CVs, greater linearity, lower cost, and shorter assay time than the conventional method. ROC curve analysis indicated almost identical specificity and sensitivity (>0.92) for these two anti-AChR Ab assays. The modified and conventional assays were also equivalent for blocking anti-AChR Ab assay. Moreover, the modified anti-AChR Ab assay, differently from the conventional assay, allowed us to reveal anti-AChR Ab concentration differences among different clinical grades of MG.
Key Words: indexing terms: myasthenia gravis radioreceptor assay intermethod comparison
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