Abstract Background Protein electrophoresis is a widely employed technique for separating and analyzing proteins based on their charge and size. Traditionally, concentrated urine samples have been utilized to enhance protein detection sensitivity. However, this study explores the feasibility of using unconcentrated urine as an alternative sample type for protein electrophoresis (UEL) and immunofixation (UIF) to streamline the analysis process and reduce costs and turnaround time in clinical laboratories. It offers a more efficient and resource-friendly alternative. Methods Both UEL and UIF were performed on routinely ordered 80 urine specimens (random or 24 Hr.) for patient management and performed by both concentrated (X40) by Helena and unconcentrated using Sebia (HYDRAGEL 9IF gels using HYDRAGEL BJ dynamic mask procedure. The electrophoretic patterns obtained from unconcentrated urine were compared with those from concentrated urine. Various electrophoretic parameters, including resolution, sensitivity, and reproducibility, were evaluated to determine the reliability of unconcentrated urine in protein electrophoresis. In addition, retrospective analysis was performed before and after implementation on all urine specimens ordered to analyze if there were any differences in the monoclonal band distributions in the population. Results All the protein concentrations were correlated well with 95-100% agreement between the methods (Figure 1) clear separation of protein fractions. Serial dilution studies of monoclonal band analyses showed that these bands can be detected at 1.25 mg/dL using an unconcentrated method. Retrospective analysis of patient data before and after the implementation of the new method shows no differences in the identification of monoclonal proteins (Helena [69 of 872 total patients tested (8.0%)] vs. Sebia [90/800 (11.0%)]. Conclusions These results indicate that unconcentrated urine can be successfully utilized for UEL and UIF with comparable outcomes to traditional concentrated samples. Utilizing unconcentrated urine simplifies the sample preparation process and presents a promising alternative.
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