Determination of iohexol in canine plasma – strong correlation between enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, high-performance liquid chromatography, and neutron activation analysis

Abstract

Iohexol is a non-radioactive, iodinated, water-soluble radiographic contrast medium that is widely used in detection imaging for both clinical and scientific purposes. It has also been used as a marker for glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and intestinal permeability (IP) in both humans and animals, such as dogs, rats and cats. Currently, iohexol is determined mainly by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods which limit its use in veterinary clinical practice. The aim of this study was to validate an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and its accuracy for the measurement of iohexol in canine plasma by comparison with HPLC and neutron activation analysis (NAA). Blank and iohexol-containing blood samples (n=100) from Beagle dogs were collected from the jugular vein in lithium heparin tubes before and after intravenous application of 3.0 g iohexol/dog via the cephalic vein.

The results of this study show that the correlation coefficients when comparing ELISA vs. HPLC (r=0.99), ELISA vs. NAA (r=0.99) and HPLC vs. NAA (r=0.98) are all excellent. In conclusion, the measurement of iohexol from canine plasma using ELISA is as reproducible and reliable as using HPLC or NAA. However, using ELISA for measuring iohexol may be more practical, economical and useful for clinical practice and research than using HPLC or NAA.