Automated method for the determination of 5'-nucleotidase in serum by continuous flow analysis

Area of Science:

• Clinical Chemistry
• Biochemical Analysis
• Enzyme Assays

Background:

• The manual method by Persijn & Van der Slik for serum 5 '-nucleotidase determination is a widely used diagnostic tool.
• Adaptation of manual assays to automated systems is crucial for increasing laboratory efficiency and throughput.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt the manual serum 5 '-nucleotidase assay to the Auto-Analyzer II System.
• To evaluate the performance and reproducibility of the automated method compared to the manual procedure.

Main Methods:

• The Persijn & Van der Slik manual method was adapted for the Auto-Analyzer II.
• Key parameters optimized include incubation temperature (37°C) and sample processing speed (30 samples/hour at a 2:1 sample/wash ratio).

Main Results:

• Excellent agreement was observed between the Auto-Analyzer II and manual methods (correlation coefficient = 0.988).
• The normal reference range (2.9-10.5 U/l) remained consistent across both methods.
• The Auto-Analyzer II demonstrated significantly improved within-run and between-day reproducibility compared to the manual method, particularly for large sample batches.

Conclusions:

• The Auto-Analyzer II System provides a reliable and more reproducible automated method for serum 5 '-nucleotidase determination.
• This adaptation enhances laboratory efficiency for routine analysis of a large number of samples.