Potential sources of interference on Abeta immunoassays in biological samples

Therapeutic products that depend on the use of an in vitro diagnostic biomarker test to confirm their effectiveness are increasingly being developed. Use of biomarkers is particularly meaningful in the context of selecting the patient population where the therapeutic treatment is believed to be efficacious (patient enrichment). Currently available 'research-use-only' assays for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis all suffer from non-analyte and analyte-specific interferences. The impact of these interferences on the outcome of the assays is not well understood. The confounding factors are hampering correct value determination in biological samples and are intrinsic to the assay concept, the assay design, the presence in the sample of heterophilic antibodies and auto-antibodies, or might be the result of the therapeutic approach. This review focuses on the importance of assay interferences and considers how these might be minimized with the final aim of making the assays more acceptable as in vitro diagnostic biomarker tests for theranostic use.