Table 3.
Spearman correlations between the regular and high-sensitivity assays a, NSHDS and clinical research study subjects combined (n = 54 samples)
| Biomarker | LLD (pg/mL) | % of samples above LLD | % of samples above LLD that required extrapolation b | n samples used to compute rs | Spearman correlation coefficient (rs) | rs p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular assay | High-sensitivity assay | Regular assay (%) | High-sensitivity assay (%) | Regular assay (%) | High-sensitivity assay (%) | ||||
| IL-1β | 15 | 0.06 | 41 | 100 | 41 | 0 | 22 | 0.17 | 0.45 |
| IL-2 | 6 | 0.16 | 52 | 100 | 64 | 0 | 28 | 0.18 | 0.36 |
| IL-4 | 5 | 0.13 | 100 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0.06 | 0.65 |
| IL-5 | 3 | 0.01 | 0 | 100 | N/A | 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| IL-6 | 3 | 0.10 | 35 | 100 | 68 | 0 | 19 | 0.35 | 0.13 |
| IL-7 | 10 | 0.12 | 50 | 98 | 93 | 0 | 27 | 0.11 | 0.59 |
| IL-8 | 3 | 0.11 | 100 | 100 | 26 | 0 | 54 | 0.45 | 0.0007 |
| IL-10 | 5 | 0.15 | 83 | 100 | 91 | 0 | 45 | 0.23 | 0.13 |
| IL-13 | 10 | 0.48 | 98 | 100 | 81 | 0 | 53 | -0.13 | 0.37 |
| TNFα | 10 | 0.05 | 100 | 100 | 66 | 0 | 54 | 0.15 | 0.28 |
| IFNγ | 5 | 0.29 | 100 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0.08 | 0.56 |
Note: All available plasma samples were used for these analyses, i.e., a maximum of 36 samples for the NSHDS and 18 samples for the clinical research subjects.
a Regular assay kit from Biosource and high-sensitivity (hs) assay kit from Linco/Millipore
b Values were extrapolated beyond the lowest point on the standard curve if their florescence intensity reading was above background florescence intensity. If florescence intensity was less than background florescence intensity, values were considered to be below the lower limit of detection.