Measurement of sirolimus concentrations in human blood using an automated electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA): a multicenter evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of sirolimus is essential in transplant recipients. We evaluated the performance of a new electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) for measuring sirolimus concentrations in whole blood at five European laboratories. METHODS: Study assessments included repeatability, intermediate precision and functional sensitivity (concentration at coefficient of variation [CV] of 20%) experiments. Method comparisons with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS; reference method) and two immunoassays (chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay [CMIA] and antibody-conjugated magnetic immunoassay [ACMIA]) were performed using native samples from patients with kidney transplants. RESULTS: Imprecision testing CVs were ≤6.4% and ≤10.7% across the sirolimus concentration range for both repeatability and intermediate precision, respectively. The ECLIA showed excellent functional sensitivity: the CV did not reach 20%; the CV at the assay's limit of quantitation (1.5 µg/L) was 7.0%. Agreement between the ECLIA and LC-MS/MS using native kidney samples was close, with weighted Deming regression analysis yielding a slope of 1.05, an intercept of 0.154 µg/L and a Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) of 0.94, while Bland-Altman analysis showed a combined mean bias of 0.41 µg/L (±2 standard deviation [SD], -1.96 to 2.68). The ECLIA also showed good correlation with the two other immunoassays: the CMIA (slope=0.91, intercept=0.112 µg/L and r=0.89) and the ACMIA (slope=0.99, intercept=0.319 µg/L and r=0.97). CONCLUSIONS: The ECLIA showed good precision, functional sensitivity and agreement with other methods of sirolimus measurement used in clinical practice, suggesting that the assay is suitable for TDM in transplant recipients and provides an alternative to LC-MS/MS.