Analytical Performances and Heart Failure Research of the BNP and NT-proBNP Assays on the Cobas e601 and ADVIA Centaur

Abstract

The analytical performances of the NT-proBNP and BNP assays on the Cobas E601 and ADVIA Centaur were thoroughly evaluated. In addition, the values of BNP and NT-proBNP, which are heart failure markers, were compared in the diagnosis of HF patients with or without acute cerebral infarction since they could also be elevated in ischemic stroke. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) documents were employed in the analytical evaluation of NT-proBNP and BNP assays on the Cobas E601 and ADVIA Centaur. Then 100 heart failure patients and 103 cerebral infarction complicated with heart failure patients, who had been diagnosed by clinical doctors blinded to NT-proBNP and BNP concentrations, were chosen to compare their values in the diagnosis of heart failure with or without acute cerebral infarction. The NT-proBNP and BNP methods are precise and accurate (total CV < 2.9%, deviation < 3.6%), have wide dynamic measuring ranges (8 pg/mL to 35 126 pg/mL and 2.0 pg/mL to 5094 pg/mL, respectively) with maximum dilutability of 1:2, and are free of common interferences. The most suitable sample types for NT-proBNP and BNP are serum and EDTA plasma, respectively, and both methods correlate well in simple-HF patients. Unlike BNP, the level of NT-proBNP is much higher in HF patients with acute cerebral infarction (p < 0.001). The Cobas E601 and ADVIA Centaur systems have good analytical performances. In HF patients with acute cerebral infarction, the NT-proBNP and BNP levels did not correlate and thus had implications for clinical diagnosis.