Standardization of aldosterone and harmonization of renin in China

Aldosterone and renin are important clinical indicators in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. There are two kinds of methods for aldosterone detection, including immunoassay and mass spectrometry. The coefficients of variation within the methods, as well as the deviation between methods are large.And the results of immunoassay are much higher than that of mass spectrometry. Clinically, renin tests mainly include renin concentration and renin activity, both of which have advantages and disadvantages in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. The disordered test results of aldosterone and renin brings great trouble to the clinical diagnosis and treatment. Standardization/consistency is urgently needed to make the test results of each laboratory more accurate and comparable. The standardization project for renin and aldosterone in China will greatly promote the standardization process in order to provide accurate and comparable clinical tests. Key words: Aldosterone; Renin; Reproducibility of results; Chromatography, liquid; Tandem mass spectrometry