Tacrolimus concentrations by ELISA and LC - MS/MS

Abstract

Introduction. Tacrolimus has immunosuppressive effects in vitro through the inhibition of mixed lymphocyte reactivity and the generation of cytotoxic T cells. There is a wide variety of laboratory methods for monitoring of immunosuppressive drugs. There is a growing clinical needfor a new evaluation of these methods. Material and Method. A total of 17 transplant patients were retrospectively analyzed. This study aimed to evaluate the concordance between ELISA and LC-MS/MS methods for measurement of tacrolimus serum trough levels. Result. Mean tacrolimus blood concentrations in these patients ranged from 2.43-10.07 ng/ml for the ELISA and 3.1-7.6 ng/ml for the LC-MS/MS. We found a concordance between ELISA and LC-MS/MS but the inter-subject variance coefficient for the ELISA method was higher than inter-subject variance coefficient for LC-MS/MS. Conclusion. The results point out the advantages of LC-MS/MS over ELISA in monitoring tacrolimus levels in pediatric kidney transplanted patients. The lower inter-subject variance of LC-MS/MS could result in fewer dose changes and an overall better immunosuppression control.

A gold-based immunochromatographic strip for the specific detection of tacrolimus in whole blood

“…However, the above-mentioned highly-accurate and sensitive pieces of equipment are expensive, their operation is time-consuming, and requires highly professional operators because of the complicated detection steps, which makes them unsuitable for the needs of rapid and frequent monitoring. The immunoassay methods used for tacrolimus include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 26 microparticle enzyme immunoassay (MEIA), 27 chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) 28 and electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA). 29 The immunoassay is simple to perform and low cost, but it has the disadvantages of low sensitivity and lack of specificity.…”