[Improvements from the reference material CRM 470 in the standardization of the determination of serum proteins]

The introduction of the CRM 470 in 1993 (certified reference material for 14 serum proteins) and its utilization by industrial companies for cross-calibrating their commercial standards has been an important break-through in protein standardization. This improvement has been clearly illustrated by the last national quality control survey performed in France in may 1995. At this time, about 60% of the 1,870 participants have already adopted the new standardization. The between-run precision (interlaboratory and intertechnique) has been considerably improved by the use of the new international standard (5.8 to 12.2% versus 10 to 24.1% before standardization); the same is true for accuracy. These results should convince the last reluctant laboratories to adopt the new standardization. Thus, it seems now possible to define reference ranges for serum proteins: this is the new task assigned to the Committee for Plasma Protein Standardization of the IFCC.