Determination of retinol-binding protein in serum by kinetic immunonephelometry with polyethylene glycol pretreatment

This work describes the use of polyethylene glycol as a pretreatment reagent to remove endogenous light scattering material from serum samples prior to automated immunonephelometric analysis on a centrifugal analyser. An assay system for retinol-binding protein is described, which allows rapid (10 minutes) quantitation of retinol-binding protein in serum samples with a detection limit of 5 mg/L and between-assay coefficients of variation ranging from 2.9% to 4.0%. The assay range is 5-80 mg/L and accuracy comparisons with a Mancini single radial immunodiffusion method yield a regression line y = 0.89 x + 0.52 (r = 0.98, n = 22). The problem of analyte precipitation associated with use of pretreatment regimes is discussed.