Performance Evaluation of the ARCHITECT i2000 for the Determination of Whole Blood Cyclosporin A and Tacrolimus

ABSTRACT

Maintaining immunosuppressant concentrations within the therapeutic range in organ recipients requires regular monitoring. The blood concentrations of immunosuppressants are routinely measured using one of several automated immunoassays, such as chemiluminescence immunoassays (CLIAs) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-TMS). The ARCHITECT i2000 immunoassay analyzer (Abbott Diagnostics, USA) was developed as an automated CLIA analyzer for the measurement of cyclosporin A and tacrolimus in whole blood. Here, the precision and linearity of the ARCHITECT i2000 analyzer for the detection of cyclosporin A and tacrolimus in whole blood were evaluated according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines and were compared with those of an LC-TMS detection method. The total coefficient of variation for the two drugs was less than 10%, and they showed linearity values of 0.97 or more, which was within the manufacturer's range. The measurements of both immunosuppressants by the ARCHITECT i2000 were closely correlated with measurements determined by LC-TMS. However, most measurements were lower with LC-TMS than with the ARCHITECT i2000. Measurement of cyclosporin A and tacrolimus in whole blood using the ARCHITECT i2000 showed very satisfactory performance in terms of precision and linearity as well as good correlation with the comparative method.