Table 8.

Summary of the four assays

Measure	Bio-Rad	Invitrogen	BD	Bender MedSystems
Cost (1 = highest cost)	2	1	3	4
Time taken for assay completion	2 h 10 min	5 h	4 h	4 h
Time taken for reading samples	30 min	30 min	2 1/2 h	2 1/2 h
Mean correlation (duplicate wells)	0.95	0.82	0.95	0.96
Number of cytokines tested	17	10	11	7
Volume of sample needed	100 μl	100 μl	50 μl	25 μl

The kits were compared in terms of cost, time for assay completion, correlation between duplicate wells, variability, number of cytokines detected and sample volume. Cost was based on quotes received from Spanish distributers (2007).