Kappa free light chains in cerebrospinal fluid to identify patients with oligoclonal bands.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The gold standard for detection of intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis is the measurement of oligoclonal bands (OCB). In the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, the kappa free light chains (KFLC) index has a similar sensitivity and specificity as OCB. This study investigated whether determination of the KFLC index could be used to predict the presence of OCB.

METHODS: The KFLC index was determined prospectively from 295 paired serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples. KFLC were determined by nephelometry using the N Latex FLC kappa kit (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Products GmbH) on the BN Prospec analyzer (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Products GmbH) (cohort I). A cut-off value was determined using receiver operating characteristic analysis in relation to OCB positivity. These results were validated prospectively in 96 samples (cohort II) as well as retrospectively in samples of 46 patients known to be OCB positive (cohort III). We also compared the agreement of two commercially available nephelometric KFLC assays.

RESULTS: In cohort I, a KFLC index of 3.61 yielded 100% sensitivity and 88% specificity. Prospective validation of this cut-off value in cohort II showed 92% sensitivity and 96% specificity. In cohort III, a sensitivity of 93% was achieved. Comparison of Siemens and Binding Site (Birmingham, UK) assays revealed good agreement (r2  = 0.86).

CONCLUSIONS: The KFLC index with a cut-off value of 3.61 had high diagnostic accuracy to predict immunoglobulin G synthesis via OCB analysis. Determination of the KFLC index provided a quantitative parameter that could be used as an initial diagnostic step in inflammatory central nervous system disorders before measuring OCB.