What Are Interfering Antibodies (Heterophile and Human Anti-Animal) and How Can Laboratorians Address This Issue?
• Definition and Sources: Circulating heterophile antibodiesi and anti-animal antibodiesii have the potential to interfere with two-site (sandwich) or competitive immunoassays, such as troponin assays, by cross-linking the capture and label antibodies in the absence of specific analyte. [6] [16] The estimated prevalence of interfering antibodies in the general population is up to 40% of normal serum samples. [17] [18] Most modern immunoassays contain nonspecific blocker immunoglobulins (which originate from the same species as the analyte-specific antibodies) in order to limit the effect of the interfering antibodies.[19] However, in some instances the blocking proteins can not sufficiently neutralize the interfering antibodies. Thus, analytical errors may occur. In case of troponin assays, the presence of high levels of these antibodies may lead to falsely elevated values. An individual may acquire these antibodies from a variety of sources including the use of mouse monoclonal antibo
