Local antisera (LA) were compared with a common interim reference antiserum (IRA) to examine the antiserum component of the among-laboratory variation in an international collaborative study with 28 laboratories evaluating a candidate international Reference Material (apo-RM) for apolipoproteins A-I (apo A-I) and B (apo B). Measurement of the relative concentration of lyophilized preparations differed by less than 1% for LA and IRA. The percentage of the total variation in measurement of the concentration of apo-RM that was contributed by antisera among laboratories was 5% and 8% for apo A-I and B, respectively. Estimated differences from overall mean concentrations for the five different immuno-methods were greater for apo B (range: +22% to -23.5%) than for apo A-I (range +14% to -14%), but were similar within a method for LA and IRA. The results indicated that antisera are not a major source of error among laboratories and, indeed, are responsible for relatively little of the total variability.