Specific 3H radioimmunoassay with a monoclonal antibody for monitoring cyclosporine in blood.

A specific radioimmunoassay involving a mouse monoclonal antibody to cyclosporine has been developed for monitoring the parent drug in blood. Pretreatment with methanol removes cyclosporine from the erythrocytes. The limit of detection is about 12 micrograms/L, sample volume is 50 microL of blood, and within- and between-assay CVs are less than 7%. Assay results correlated well with those obtained by "high-performance" liquid chromatography (HPLC) for liver (n = 42), for heart (n = 64), for bone-marrow (n = 36), and for kidney (n = 140). For blood specimens obtained from patients treated with cyclosporine postoperatively for as long as 65 months, the mean RIA/HPLC ratio in all with transplant indications was close to 1. Therefore, the specific radioimmunoassay apparently can be used instead of HPLC to measure the parent drug in blood.