BACKGROUND: Cyclosporin A is a potent immunosuppressive drug effective in combatting rejection following organ transplantation. In na effort to replace a radioimmunoassay (RIA) for whole blood determination of cyclosporine (Cya) we compared RIA with fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIAm). METHOD: 65 blood samples were analysed from kidney transplanted patients. The samples were collected into tubes containing EDTA as anticoagulant and analysed by RIA and FPIAm. RESULTS: The statistical analysis revealed a difference between both methods (p<0.05). The linear-regression comparassion of Cya concentration measured by RIA and FPIAm showed the following relationship: Cya(FPIAm) = 1.06 x Cya(RIA) + 5.8 (r=0.9817). CONCLUSION: We conclude that FPIAm provides na alternative method for measuring cyclosporine in whole blood with the added advantages of being reasonably rapid, precise and easy to perform.
Cyclosporine; Kidney transplantation; Radioimmunoassay; Fluorescence polarizatiion immunoassay
