Clinical application and standardization of antiphospholipid antibodies tests

According to the consensus criteria of antiphospholipid syndrome(APS), the diagnosis of APS requires the persistent presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs), indicating the critical role of aPLs in the diagnosis of APS. During the last decade, great efforts have been made to improve the laboratory detection and standardization of aPLs testing. Unfortunately, the heterogeneous nature of aPLs, lacking of standardization in aPLs test, and significant inter-laboratory variation have hampered the clinical application of aPLs test. In this commentary, the clinical application and standardization of aPLs test are focused on, and how to establish the standardization system in aPLs test in order to improve the performance of aPLs test in clinical practice are discussed.(Chin J Lab Med, 2015, 38: 793-796) Key words: Antiphospholipid syndrome; Antibodies, antiphospholipid; Reference standards