MassTox® Immunosuppressants in Whole Blood – ONEMinute Test for automated sample preparation - LC-MS/MS

Clinical relevance

Immunosuppressants suppress the activity of the immune system in order to prevent organ transplant rejection. They are also used as therapeutic drugs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Therapeutic drug monitoring of immunosuppressants is indispensable for therapy following after organ transplantation. Besides mycophenolic acid, the immunosuppressants most commonly used following an organ transplantion include cyclosporin A (INN: Ciclosporin), tacrolimus (FK506), sirolimus and everolimus. Cyclosporin A and tacrolimus block the cellular signal transduction, which is required for the immune response, by inhibiting the enzyme calcineurin. For instance, it controls the synthesis of interleukin in the T cells during an immune response. In contrast, sirolimus, and its derivative everolimus, are calcineurin-independent and inhibit mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), an important enzyme of the intracellular signal transduction during the immune response.

The quantitative determination of these immunosuppressants should be performed only with LC-MS/MS, because the immunological tests vary considerably in terms of selectivity and specificity, and sometimes also detect inactive metabolites. The compensation of matrix effects also plays a key role in the diagnostic analysis of immunosuppressants from a complex matrix such as whole blood. It is therefore essential that interferences are reduced significantly to achieve precise and reliable quantification.

Product advantages

• Up to 800 samples per day
• Reduced laboratory work, higher throughput
• Reliable elimination of matrix effects
• High sensitivity and specificity
• Very short analysis time of 1-2 minutes

The ONEMINUTE MassTox® assay for the analysis of the four immunosuppressants leads to robust, precise and reproducible results with a run time of only 1-2 minutes per sample. The ONEMINUTE method saves time, especially for laboratories with high sample throughput. Manual sample preparation is reduced to a simple and effective protein precipitation step. The concentration of the analytes and the elimination of other interfering substances is performed ONLINE using a trap column, which massively minimises the matrix effects. The isotopically labelled internal standards compensate entirely for remaining ion suppression. The trap column is connected by a simple switching system to the HPLC column and the MS/MS system. The additional use of the 6PLUS1® multilevel calibrator and the MassCheck® controls ensures highly precise results.

This test is also available with manual sample preparation (order no. 93900) and as a standard method (order no. 93000).

Content for 1200 tests
Mobile Phase A, 5 x 900 ml
Mobile Phase B, 3 x 450 ml
Rinsing Solution, 2 x 1000 ml
Precipitation Reagent, 3 x 100 ml
Internal Standard Set, 3 x 1 Set
Extraction Buffer, 3 x 40 ml
96 Deep Well Extraction Plates, 3 x 5 pcs.
96 Well Collection Plates 3 x 5 pcs.
Pierceable Adhesive Seals for 96 Well Plates, 3 x 5 pcs.
6PLUS1® Multilevel Calibrator Set Immunosuppressants (XL), 7 x 2 ml
Analytical Column, 1 pc.
Trap Column, 1 pc.