Cross-laboratory evaluation of multiplex bead assays including independent common reference standards for immunological monitoring of observational and interventional human studies.

Background: Multiplex assays are increasingly applied to analyze multicomponent signatures of human immune responses, including the dynamics of cytokine and chemokine production, in observational as well as interventional studies following treatment or vaccination. However, relatively limited information is available on the performance of the different available multiplex kits, and comparative evaluations addressing this important issue are lacking.

Study Design: To fill this knowledge gap we performed a technical comparison of multiplex bead assays from 4 manufacturers, each represented by 3 different lots, and with the assays performed by 3 different laboratories.