Determination of 21-hydroxylase autoantibodies: inter-laboratory concordance in the Euradrenal International Serum Exchange Program

Background: 21-Hydroxylase autoantibodies (21OHAb) are markers of an adrenal autoimmune process that identifies individuals with autoimmune Addison's disease (AAD). Quality and inter-laboratory agreement of various 21OHAb tests are incompletely known. The objective of the study was to determine inter-laboratory concordance for 21OHAb determinations. Methods: Sixty-nine sera from 51 patients with AAD and 51 sera from 51 healthy subjects were blindly coded by a randomization center and distributed to 14 laboratories that determined 21OHAb, either by an "in-house" assay (n=9) using in vitro-translated S-35-21OH or luciferase-labeled 21OH or a commercial kit with I-125-21OH (n=5). Main outcome measures were diagnostic accuracy of each participating laboratory and inter-laboratory agreement of 21OHAb assays. Results: Intra-assay coefficient of variation ranged from 2.6% to 5.3% for laboratories using the commercial kit and from 5.1% to 23% for laboratories using "in-house" assays. Diagnostic accuracy, expressed as area under ROC curve (AUC), varied from 0.625 to 0.947 with the commercial kit and from 0.562 to 0.978 with "in-house" methods. Cohen's. of inter-rater agreement was 0.603 among all 14 laboratories, 0.691 among "in-house" laboratories, and 0.502 among commercial kit users. Optimized cutoff levels, calculated on the basis of AUCs, increased the diagnostic accuracy of every laboratory (AUC >0.9 for 11/14 laboratories) and increased the Cohen's. of inter-rater agreement. Discrepancies in quantitation of 21OHAb levels among different laboratories increased with increasing autoantibody levels. Conclusions: The quality of 21OHAb analytical procedures is mainly influenced by selection of cutoff value and correct handling of assay materials. A standardization program is needed to identify common standard sera and common measuring units.