Cobas 6000 analyzer

The concentration of serum CRP was measured with a Konelab 60i Clinical Chemistry Analyzer (Lab systems CLD, Konelab, Helsinki, Finland) or Cobas 6000 analyzer (Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan). The intra- and interassay CV% were 2.3–4.3%. The upper reference limit of serum or plasma CRP of a healthy reference population is 3 mg/L. Plasma PCT was measured from EDTA plasma using a Cobas 6000 analyzer (Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan) with a sensitivity of 0.06 μg/L. The CVs (intra- and interassay) were 1.4% and 3.0% for 0.46 μg/L and 1.1% and 2.6% for 9.4 μg/L PCT, respectively. Blood cultures (2-3 sets including two bottles/set) were drawn immediately at the beginning of neutropenic fever (day 0), and an additional sampling was done if fever persisted for 3–5 days. They were processed using the automated blood culture system Bactec 9240 (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, MD, USA). The incubation episode for aerobic and anaerobic bottles was 7 days and for MYCO F/Lytic bottles 42 days. The plasma samples for metabolomics assays were stored frozen at −80°C until analyzed.

Blood samples for sCD14, CRP, and PCT analyses were collected at the onset of febrile neutropenia (day 0) and the further samples in the following two mornings (day 1 and day 2). Serum samples were stored frozen at −70°C until analyzed.
The concentration of sCD14 was measured with an ELISA kit (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA). The minimum detectable concentration of sCD14 in this assay was 125 ng/L. The respective intra- and interassay CVs for sCD14 analyses were 10.7% and 16.0% for 1285 ng/L and 1549 ng/L of sCD14 and 6.1% and 6.4% for 1430 ng/L and 1561 ng/L of sCD14.
The concentration of CRP was measured with a Konelab 60i clinical chemistry analyzer (Lab systems CLD, Konelab, Helsinki, Finland) or Cobas 6000 analyzer (Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan). The between-run variations were from 2.3% to 4.3%. The upper reference limit of serum or plasma CRP of a healthy reference population is 5 mg/L.
Plasma PCT was analyzed with a Cobas 6000 analyzer (Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan). The sensitivity of the assay was 0.06 μg/L. The respective within- and between-assay CVs for PCT analyses were 1.4% and 3.0% for 0.46 μg/L of PCT and 1.1% and 2.6% for 9.4 μg/L of PCT. The reference limit for PCT indicating a possible systemic infection is 0.5 μg/L.

The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at MEIH-UH determined the serum concentration of insulin via a sandwich ELISA principle using the Elecsys insulin kit (Roche, Basel, Switzerland) by using Roche/Hitachi Cobas^® 6000 analyzer.