Abstract
Electrophoretic determination of serum protein fractions with cellulose acetate membranes is a widely used clinical test, and it is largely determined by fully automated analyzers. However, quality control and standardization of protein fractions has not been discussed until now, because the numerical character of protein fraction ratios is distinct from that of general quantitative data. We analyzed between- and within-laboratory variations of control survey data, and found the presence of significant errors of between-laboratory and between-day variations in fraction ratios. They are attributed to the types of cellulose acetate membranes and automated analyzers. We applied a x-Rs-R control chart method for the determination of protein fractions, the values of which have inherent analytical variations by between- and within-day errors. This quality control method is suitable for assuring reliability in the electrophoretic determination of serum protein fractions.
