The 2006 Report from the IFCC Scientific Division

Contributed by Prof. Dr. Gerhard  Schumann, Chair of IFCC Committee on Reference Systems of Enzymes (C-RSE)

The work on the reference procedure for -amylase was completed by publication (1).
C-RSE and network members cooperate with the institute for reference materials and measurements (IRMM) in preparation of a certification campaign for a reference material for AST. The campaign shall be executed in 2007.
A feasibility study for the proposed reference procedure for ALP is in preparation. Network reference laboratories shall investigate deep-frozen stored and shipped pooled human sera and also processed lyophilized control material. The study shall be the final evaluation step before the reference procedure is recommended for publication.
C-RSE is in contact with C-RIDL in order to find solutions for the difficult situation that reference intervals for the coming IFCC procedure for ALP are missing while the procedure is ready for publication.

One reference laboratory of the enzyme network has achieved official accreditation according to ISO 17025 / ISO 15195 for -AMY, ALT, AST, CK, GGT and LDH. Other reference laboratories are in the final stage of the accreditation procedure. The complicated matter of the budget of uncertainty of measurements is well understood now and communicated among the reference laboratories of the network.
The chairs of SD, C-RIDL and C-RSE have send a letter to the editor of the journal Liver international regarding the publication �Re-evaluation of serum alanine aminotransferase upper normal limits and its modulating factors in a large-scale population study�. The publisher and the reviewers are asked to pay more attention to analytical aspects when redefining reference limits for enzymes (2).

1. Schumann G, Aoki R, Ferrero A, Ehler G, F�rard G, Gella F-J, J�rgensen PJ, Kanno T, Kessner A, Klauke R, Kytzia H-J, Lessinger J-M, Miller WG, Nagel R, Pauwels J, Schimmel H, Siekmann S, Weidemann G, Yoshida K, Ceriotti F. IFCC primary reference procedures for the measurement of catalytic activity concentrations of enzymes at 37 �C, Part 8. Reference procedure for the measurement of catalytic concentration of -amylase. Clin Chem Lab Med 2006;44:1146-1155.

2. Ceriotti F, Schumann G, Panteghine M. Letter to the editor: Redefining reference limits needs more attention to the analytical aspects. Liver International 2006;26:1155-1156.