Abstract

Background: Because of the vast range of physiological relevant estradiol concentrations the requirements to be met by an estradiol assay are high. In the present study the performance of various commercially available estradiol assays was evaluated with regard to imprecision and long-term stability.
Methods: Precision and long-term stability of 7 commercially available estradiol immunoassays were assessed in a multicentre quality control study based on the repeated measurement of liquid BIOREF estradiol control sera by 18 laboratories during a 14-month study period.
Results: The mean estradiol concentrations determined in 594 runs performed for each control level were 71 pg/ml, 349 pg/ml and 676 pg/ml. A high variation was found for the method specific mean values calculated from all results measured with the same method, which ranged between 32 - 90 pg/ml, 187 - 392 pg/ml and 373 - 790 pg/ml, resulting in a similar high inter-laboratory variation with coefficients of variation (CVs) of 25.0 %, 16.7 % and 17.5 %. In contrast, the intra-laboratory variation of estradiol values as well as the variation of values measured with the same method were found to be considerably lower with coefficients of variation < 10 % for most laboratories and methods; only the low control level was measured with CV values > 10 % by the majority of laboratories and methods. For none of the laboratories a tendency was observed in the results from beginning to end of the 14 month study period indicating a high uniformity in assay production and a good long term stability of the control material used.
Conclusions: The present data demonstrate that also with the currently available estradiol immunoassays the comparability of results measured with different methods is limited. With most assays very low estradiol concentrations, as observed in postmenopausal women, can be determined only with a precision which is not adequate for clinical assessment.

DOI: Clin. Lab. 2009;55:201-206