Heterophile Antibody Interference (HAb)
METHODOLOGY
Electrochemiluminescence Immunoassay (ECLIA)
PERFORMED
Tuesday & Friday
REPORTED
2 days
COLLECT
One 6mL RT (Min: 4mL RT)
TRANSPORT
1 mL refrigerated serum (Min: 0.5 mL)
STABILITY
Stored at 2 - 8°C until used; Stable if frozen at - 20°C
UNACCEPTABLE
Do not use heat-inactivated samples.
REFERENCE RANGE
Not Applicable
CPT CODE
Depends upon analyte selection
please see Requisition Form
INFORMATION
Whenever unexpected Immunoassay results are noticed and all of the usual causes have been investigated to no avail, it may be helpful to test for the presence of Heterophile Antibodies. Heterophile Antibodies (HAb) are endogenous non-specific animal antibodies that can bind to the assay reagents. Heterophile Antibodies are usually produced by the patient's immune system response to an environmental antigenic stimulus. The analyte's test results may be falsely high or occasionally falsely low, depending on the method or instrument or the specific HAb involved. Human Anti-Mouse Antibodies (HAMA) are one of the most common HAb. The lab can confirm the presence of HAb by blocking the effects of the HAb in an aliquot of serum and showing discordance between the blocked versus the unblocked test result. Please be aware that not all immunoassays use the same methods or reagents so that susceptibility to interferences may vary.