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Urine protein electrophoresis and immunoelectrophoresis using unconcentrated or minimally concentrated urine samples

Anja C Roden1, Karen S Lockington, Linda J Tostrud

  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.

American Journal of Clinical Pathology
|June 14, 2008
PubMed

Insights

A new gel electrophoresis system effectively analyzes unconcentrated urine for monoclonal gammopathies. This method shows high concordance for protein electrophoresis (PEL) and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE), reducing sample rejections.

Area of Science:

  • Clinical Chemistry
  • Immunology
  • Laboratory Medicine

Background:

  • Monoclonal gammopathies require sensitive detection of M proteins in urine.
  • Traditional urine protein electrophoresis (PEL) and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) often necessitate urine concentration, leading to sample rejection due to insufficient volume.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate a novel gel electrophoresis system utilizing unconcentrated urine specimens for PEL and IFE in monoclonal gammopathy patients.
  • To compare the performance of the new system with a conventional method regarding M protein detection, characterization, and quantification.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 222 urine specimens using both a current PEL method and a system recommending unconcentrated urine.
  • Comparison of M protein concentrations in 43 cases with measurable M spikes.
  • IFE performed on 111 samples using both methods.

Main Results:

  • High concordance rates: 97% for PEL abnormalities and 98% for IFE.
  • Excellent correlation in M protein concentrations (r2=0.99; slope, 1.04).
  • The new system successfully analyzed samples with insufficient volume for concentration, identifying M proteins in 11 cases.

Conclusions:

  • High-resolution gel electrophoresis of unconcentrated urine offers comparable performance to conventional methods for M protein analysis.
  • Utilizing unconcentrated urine significantly reduces sample rejections, improving laboratory workflow efficiency for monoclonal gammopathy testing.

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