The Extended Lipid Panel Assay: a Clinically-deployed High-throughput Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Method for the Simultaneous Measurement of Lipids and Apolipoprotein B

Background: Standard lipid panel assays employing chemical/enzymatic methods measure total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), from which are calculated estimates of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). These lipid measures are used universally to guide management of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. Apolipoprotein B (apoB) is generally acknowledged to be superior to LDL-C for lipid-lowering therapeutic decision-making, but apoB immunoassays are performed relatively infrequently due to the added analytic cost. The aim of this study was to develop and validate the performance of a rapid, high-throughput, reagent-less assay producing an "Extended Lipid Panel" (ELP) that includes apoB, using the Vantera® nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyzer platform already deployed clinically for lipoprotein particle and other testing.

Methods: Partial least squares regression models, using as input a defined region of proton NMR spectra of plasma or serum, were created to simultaneously quantify TC, TG, HDL-C, and apoB. Large training sets (n > ~ 1000) of patient sera analyzed independently for lipids and apoB by chemical methods were employed to ensure prediction models reflect the wide lipid compositional diversity of the population. The analytical performance of the NMR ELP assay was comprehensively evaluated.

Results: Excellent agreement was demonstrated between chemically-measured and ELP assay values of TC, TG, HDL-C and apoB with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.980 to 0.997. Within-run precision studies measured using low, medium, and high level serum pools gave coefficients of variation for the 4 analytes ranging from 1.0 to 3.8% for the low, 1.0 to 1.7% for the medium, and 0.9 to 1.3% for the high pools. Corresponding values for within-lab precision over 20 days were 1.4 to 3.6%, 1.2 to 2.3%, and 1.0 to 1.9%, respectively. Independent testing at three sites over 5 days produced highly consistent assay results. No major interference was observed from 38 endogenous or exogenous substances tested.

Conclusions: Extensive assay performance evaluations validate that the NMR ELP assay is efficient, robust, and substantially equivalent to standard chemistry assays for the clinical measurement of lipids and apoB. Routine reporting of apoB alongside standard lipid measures could facilitate more widespread utilization of apoB for clinical decision-making.