Automated determination of cross-linked fibrin derivatives in plasma

Automated assays for the measurement of cross-linked fibrin derivatives in plasma (XL-FbDP) have been developed utilizing latex beads coated with anti-D dimer monoclonal antibody (DD-3B6/22) for both the Cobas Fara Chemistry Centrifugal and the Cobas Mira analysers (Roche, Basle, Switzerland). The analysers were programmed to mix plasma and latex reagent simultaneously and analyse absorbance changes over a 10-15 min period. Results were interpolated by the analyser from a standard curve derived from a polymer of D-dimer. Both assays had high precision (< 5% CV) for values between 100 and 1000 ng/ml and provided clear discrimination between normal samples and samples from patients suffering from the thrombotic diseases, DVT/PE and DIC. The results obtained for XL-FbDP determination with both methods compared well with established methods: a high correlation was obtained with a semi-quantitative manual latex method for both the Fara (r = 0.92) and Mira (r = 0.83) and correlations (r) of 0.81 (Fara) and 0.84 (Mira) were obtained with an enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Correlation between the two automated procedures was high (r = 0.96). The automated method will enable laboratories to provide a rapid and accurate quantitation of XL-FbDP.