Multicenter evaluation of the Paragon CZE 2000 capillary zone electrophoresis system for serum protein electrophoresis and monoclonal component typing

Serum protein electrophoresis and typing of monoclonal components (MCs) are routine but time-consuming and technically demanding assays. We evaluated capillary electrophoresis (Paragon CZE 2000) for automation of the two assays. CZE and cellulose acetate electrophoresis gave similar data on 794 samples. Within-run and between-run CVs were2% for albumin and gamma-globulins and 4-7% for alpha 1-, alpha 2-, and beta-globulins. Bilirubin, hemoglobin, triglycerides, and fibrinogen were found not to interfere. No carryover by capillaries was detected. The detection limit for MC was0.5 g/L. MC assessment by immunosubtraction on 403 samples identified the monoclonal type in all samples with peak concentrations10 g/L; only 50% of MCs that could not be quantified by densitometric scan were typed.