2019 Volume 68 Issue 1 Pages 99-104
Background: Autotaxin is the enzyme responsible for converting lysophosphatidylcholine to lysophosphatidic acid. Recently, it has been reported that serum autotaxin levels correlate with liver fibrosis grade, and autotaxin is useful as a noninvasive liver fibrosis marker. We evaluated the performance of serum autotaxin assay and compared serum autotaxin levels in healthy subjects between genders and age groups. Methods: Autotaxin concentrations were determined using the automated immunoassay analyzer AIA-2000 (Tosoh Co.). Precision, linearity, sensitivity, the effect of interferences of autotaxin assay, and autotaxin sample stability were evaluated. For the comparison of autotaxin levels between genders and age groups, 160 healthy subjects (80 males and 80 females) with normal liver function were recruited. Results: The coefficient of variations of the assay ranged from 1.74% to 4.09%. Linearity was observed up to 8.51 mg/L. The limit of detection was 0.03 mg/L. There was no effect of interfering substances. Sample storage at room temperature for up to 5 days, at 2–8°C for up to 6 days, at −20°C for up to 30 days, and repeated freeze–thawing up to 5 times had no impact on the measured levels of autotaxin. Median autotaxin levels were significantly higher in females than in males (0.82 vs 0.70 mg/L; p < 0.005), but there were no significant differences between age groups. Conclusions: The analytical performance of autotaxin assay is acceptable for routine clinical laboratory tests. Autotaxin levels were higher in females than in males. Therefore, it is necessary to assess autotaxin levels according to gender.
