A rapid method of theophylline assay in the physician's office

A competitive fluorescent enzyme immunoassay for theophylline is described which employs a theophylline monoclonal antibody. Fifty-two samples were assayed by this method and by high pressure liquid chromatography. The coefficient of correlation contrasting the methods equaled 0.979. The coefficient of determination was 0.959. The standard error of the correlation coefficient was 1.392. The bias of the immunoassay method versus high pressure liquid chromatography was 0.8 with 95% confidence limits of 0.4 to 1.2. In the same 52 patients, the precision of 1.6 with 95% confidence limits of 1.3 to 1.9 was obtained. There are numerous advantages of this new method compared with high pressure liquid chromatography. For the practicing physician, the rapid immunoassay for theophylline described here is proper for office application.