Evaluation of a Capillary Electrophoresis System for the Separation of Proteins

BACKGROUND: Serum protein electrophoresis is one of the core investigations for screening for monoclonal proteins. Among the available capillary systems, the Helena V8 system has been evaluated in a limited number of studies.

METHODS: In total, 310 sera samples were assessed on the Helena V8 system and compared with the Sebia Capillarys instrument. Abnormalities suggestive of monoclonal proteins were confirmed by immunofixation. Imprecision studies and reference intervals were determined.

RESULTS: The imprecision of the Helena V8 was inferior or equal to 5.8%. The mean bias of Helena V8 vs Sebia Capillarys was about -0.9 g/L for albumin; -0.2 g/L foralpha-1; 1.1 g/L for alpha-2; -0.2 g/L for beta; 0.3 g/L for gamma; -0.5 g/L for monoclonal protein in beta; and 0.3 g/L for monoclonal protein in gamma. Among the 56 samples with monoclonal proteins confirmed by immunofixation, all were seen on both methods, with only 1 discordant result at a cutoff of 5.0 g/L. Reference intervals were statistically different between the 2 analyzers, except for the beta fraction.

CONCLUSIONS: Our evaluation confirms the good analytical performance of the Helena V8 analyzer as a suitable alternative to the Sebia Capillarys instrument.