Specificity and sensitivity of commercially available assays for glucagon and oxyntomodulin measurement in humans

Monika Judyta Bak, Nicolai Jacob Wewer Albrechtsen, Jens Pedersen, Bolette Hartmann, Mikkel Christensen, Tina Vilsbøll, Filip Krag Knop, Carolyn F Deacon, Lars Ove Dragsted, Jens Juul Holst

94 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Aim: To determine the specificity and sensitivity of assays carried out using commercially available kits for glucagon and/or oxyntomodulin measurements. Methods: Ten different assay kits used for the measurement of either glucagon or oxyntomodulin concentrations were obtained. Solutions of synthetic glucagon (proglucagon (PG) residues 33-61), oxyntomodulin (PG residues 33-69) and glicentin (PG residues 1-69) were prepared and peptide concentrations were verified by quantitative amino acid analysis and a processing-independent in-house RIA. Peptides were added to the matrix (assay buffer) supplied with the kits (concentration range: 1.25-300 pmol/l) and to human plasma and recoveries were determined. Assays yielding meaningful results were analysed for precision and sensitivity by repeated analysis and ability to discriminate low concentrations. Results and conclusion: Three assays were specific for glucagon (carried out using the Millipore (Billerica, MA, USA), Bio-Rad (Sundbyberg, Sweden), and ALPCO (Salem, NH, USA) and Yanaihara Institute (Shizuoka, Japan) kits), but none was specific for oxyntomodulin. The assay carried out using the Phoenix (Burlingame, CA, USA) glucagon kit measured the concentrations of all three peptides (total glucagon) equally. Sensitivity and precision were generally poor; the assay carried out using the Millipore RIA kit performed best with a sensitivity around 10 pmol/l. Assays carried out using the BlueGene (Shanghai, China), USCN LIFE (Wuhan, China) (oxyntomodulin andglucagon),MyBioSource (San Diego, CA, USA)and Phoenix oxyntomodulin kits yielded inconsistent results.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Journal of Endocrinology
Volume170
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)529-538
Number of pages10
ISSN0804-4643
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2014

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