Evaluation of two digoxin radioimmunoassay procedures in which 125I-labeled digoxin is used

We present a comparative evaluation of two commercial kits, the "Quantitope" and "GammaCoat," for radioimmunoassay of digoxin in serum. These kits, in which iodine-125 is used as a label, proved to suitable for digoxin assay as determined by their reproducibility, sensitivity, precision, and a regression analysis. Hemolysis, lipemia, and icterus did not affect results. However, in some cases hypoalbuminemia falsely lowered the assayed digoxin concentration. Recovery of pure digoxin added to native patients' sera having low albumin concentration (24-28 g/liter) ranged from 67-105% with the Quantitope kit and 70-110% with the GammaCoat kit. Low serum albumin concentration did not always decrease the recovery of digoxin; this effect varied from serum to serum, which may indicate that there are factors other than albumin that affect the assay of digoxin.