Separation of serum proteins by automated capillary zone electrophoresis

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) of serum proteins is increasingly gaining impact in clinical laboratories. Two automated multichannel instruments dedicated to the separation of serum proteins have become available over the last 6 years, the Paragon CZE 20000 (Beckman Coulter, CA, USA) and, more recently, the Capillarys(R) (Sebia, France). This review focuses on the performance of these commercial instruments to separate serum proteins in a clinical laboratory setting. The utility of CZE to recognize various dysproteinemias and to detect and identify monoclonal proteins will be described and systematically reviewed. The reader will be provided with a summation and an understanding of CZE-specific interference.