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An enzyme immunoassay for determining 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone in dried blood spots on filter paper using an
Ernesto Carlos González1, Neivis Marrero, Pedro Lucio Pérez
1Department of Neonatal Screening, Immunoassay Center, 134 Street and 25 Avenue, Cubanacán, Playa, Havana, Cuba.
Background:
17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone has been used for the diagnosis of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in the newborn period.
Methods:
A simple and rapid competitive ultramicro ELISA assay based on competition between 17-OHP-alkaline phosphatase conjugate and 17-OHP in blood specimens for a limited number of binding sites on specific polyclonal rabbit anti-17-OHP antibodies, has been developed for the measurement of 17-OHP in dried blood spots on filter paper. The assay buffer contains danazol to displace 17-OHP from steroid-binding proteins.
Results:
The 17-OHP assay was completed in 3 h, with a measuring range of 10-250 nmol/l. The intra- and inter-assay CV were 5.5-8.2% and 6.4-9.1%, respectively, depending on the 17-OHP concentrations. The recovery ranged from 98-103%. Of 3750 newborn samples collected on filter paper, 903 from the national neonatal screening program were analyzed, and the mean 17-OHP concentration was 12.2 nmol/l. Our assay showed high Pearson and concordance correlations with the commercially available ICN Neoscreen ELISA 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone kit.
Conclusions:
The analytical performance characteristics of our 17-OHP Neonatal UMELISA suggest that it can be used for the neonatal screening of CAH.
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Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
There are many different types of ELISAs, but they all involve an antibody molecule whose constant region binds an enzyme, leaving the variable region free to bind its specific antigen. Enzyme-substrate reaction allows the antigen to be visualized or quantified.
Western Blotting
The technique begins with separating proteins from the sample using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), followed by protein transfer, immunoblotting, and finally, protein detection.
