How ELISA Kits Help Save Lives While Saving Money At The Same Time

By Jocelyn Davidson


One cannot help but to stand in awe of the rapid progress made in the medical field. New techniques and medicines are introduced at an astonishing rate. Of course, one of the main fields of research is diagnostics. No one will argue the fact that an early diagnosis ensures a better prognosis and lower treatment costs. ELISA kits, an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, allow doctors to diagnose a variety of conditions quickly and efficiently.

This test, also known as EIA is a laboratory procedure that is used to measure just how much antibodies and antigens there are in a specific sample of blood. The ability to measure the concentration of antigens and antibodies is a vital part of the diagnostic process. As an added bonus, this test is very easy to administer and many tests can be processed simultaneously.

Antibodies are protein substances that are produced by the body when it detects the presence of dangerous substances. The dangerous substances are called antigens. When antibodies are detected by means of the EIA test, it follows logically that there must be antigens too. The exact identity of the antigens can be determined by identifying the type of antibody in the sample. In this way a diagnosis can be made confidently.

Patients do not experience any form of discomfort during the test. A small sample of blood is removed and then sent to the laboratory. There, a technician will add the sample to a petri dish that is already prepared with antigens. When the antibodies in the blood sample bind with the specific antigen in the petri dish and identification can be made. Further enzymes are then added to see how the antibody and the antigen react to each other.

There are different variations of the EIA test but the more complex tests provide much more accurate results. Each type of test requires a different kit. The direct EIA test, for example is straightforward and results are available very quickly. In this case the antigens are coated with multiwall plates and the antibody can only react with the antigen once it has been conjugated with enzymes.

The indirect EIA test is much more sensitive. In this case a polystyrene plate is used to cover the antigen. The antibody can only detect the antigen during two well controlled stages. The advantage of this test is that both primary and secondary antibodies can be identified at the same time. This ability may eliminate the need for further tests, thus saving both time and money.

The sandwich EIA test requires the antibodies to be matched in pairs. The first one is covered with polystyrene and the role of the second antibody is to act as a detection agent. The main purpose of this test is to find out what the concentration of the analyte is. It is an extremely accurate test and can be used to diagnose latent diseases.

The EIA test is so popular with medical experts because it is versatile, quick and very accurate. The test is easy to administer and to process too. Patients benefit because their conditions can be diagnoses at an earlier stage. This makes treatment easier and it improves the prognosis.




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