Development of an insulin-like growth factor-1 certified reference material by SI-traceable isotope-dilution mass spectrometry

In this study, an insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) certified reference material (CRM) was developed by the National Institute of Metrology (NIM), and two different principles for evaluating the IGF-1 CRM were established. After optimisation of the acid hydrolysis conditions (110 °C, 36 h), quantitative determination of peptide purity, and chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric detection, amino acid analysis-based high-performance liquid chromatography combined with isotope-dilution tandem mass spectrometry (AAA-HPLC-IDMS/MS) and peptide analysis-based HPLC-IDMS/MS (Peptide-HPLC-IDMS/MS) were used for certified value assignment; the results obtained were 136.28 and 135.01 μg/g, respectively, which were in good agreement. These results were subjected to the normal distribution test, outlier test, and method consistency test. The homogeneity and stability of the reference materials were also examined, and the uncertainty introduced in the experimental process was calculated. The final certified value was (136 ± 15) μg g−1 (k = 2). The CRM was found to be stable for at least six months when stored at −70 °C and for 7 d when stored at higher temperatures (−20 °C, 4 °C, 25 °C, or 40 °C). The CRM is expected to be used as a primary calibrator for quality control in biopharmaceutical production and clinical diagnostics.