ELISA kits are the most advanced and beneficial tools for testing the presence of antibodies in the blood. The presence of antibodies is an indication of an infection. But ELISA is also essential for detecting other types of proteins like peptides and hormones. So, can you buy any ELISA kit for personal or commercial use to test anything?
This article analyzes the procedures you should follow when buying your ELISA. Simply put, you cannot purchase any ELISA kit for the project you have. It is vital to find a kit that matches your specific needs to achieve your goals. These tips will help save both your time and money to avoid unnecessary or incompatible kits.
The Species for Testing
Validated ELISA kits are available for human, mice, and rat samples. However, some ELISA kit manufacturers now provide more non-classical models such as dogs, monkeys, or porcine. Choose a kit that validates the species and ensure that the homology of the species matches your model. The main objective of considering the species for testing is to ensure that the ELISA kit is compatible with your precious samples.
Quality of Samples Analyzed
Identifying the analyte is essential. For example, to detect numerous epitomes such as cytokine, most people prefer using a sandwich ELISA. However, if you want to detect small molecules like hapten, you can use a more competitive ELISA kit. Moreover, to validate plasma and culture supernatants, you can use commercially available ELISA kits. Before using these kits, it would be best to read and understand the product descriptions and instructions. Doing this will help you know better if the kit is suitable and matches the samples you need to analyze.
You will obtain the results that directly affect the kit you choose and by how you collect plasma samples. For example, if hemolysis and lipids are present in the sample preparation, they can hamper the assay’s performance. Therefore, to obtain accurate results, ensure you account for all these factors before selecting an ELISA kit. Another way to ensure that your samples are compatible with a kit is by performing a pre-test using a trial size kit.
Expected Concentration of the Biomarker
Using an assay with the broadest detection range is advisable when you have no idea of the concentration of your maker’s interest in your samples. It is ideal to use multiple dilutions within the validation stages. However, if you are aware of how your test samples and kit behave, you can consider using single dilutions in your long-term project.
How low is the concentration in your samples? With minimal concentrations, it is prudent to use ½ sample species in one dilution. Doing this prevents the matrix effect and ensures your sample is closer to the standard range.
Linearity and Recovery Experiments
To monitor ELISA kits’ performance, it is ideal if you carry out linearity and recovery experiments. When determining the effect of variations present in sample matrices on analyte detection, you need to use a recovery test for analysis. According to observations, high recovery is better. However, if you want to analyze the linearity dose-response in a given diluent, linearity dilution does the best analysis. In most cases, the concentrations of the samples in all dilutions are the same.
Most times, the supplier indicates the linearity and recovery data on the product specifications. In addition, dynamic range and sensitivity are some of the crucial parameters to consider for better clarity. Various manufacturers have different data parameters on the ELISA kits they provide. Therefore, you will need to analyze all the data parameters in the recovery and linearity data to select your ELISA kit.
The Experimental Protocol
To avoid much confusion between the assays when you have to test multiple analytes, you need to use the same brand and protocol for all the analytes. If you have the same analytes to test regularly, it would be best to consider a multiplex solution.
Doing this will help you save your samples, time, and money. Using any combination consisting of secretome proteins, quant body, and Q-Plex will be a perfect solution. Moreover, you can take advantage of Quansys’ long-term assay consolidation experience to tailor-make a kit that will be perfect for your project in case you have another range of proteins.
Final Thoughts
Before selecting ELISA kits, you need to consider various factors. Your time and investment are crucial in this process. Quality, species for testing, experiment protocols are some of the main factors you should consider when selecting an ELISA kit. Prior to deciding on the type of ELISA kit to choose, you need to be aware of the number of samples a kit will require to conduct an assay and the number of tests it can do. If you follow these tips, you will get a suitable EISA kit for your experiments.