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ELISA
ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY
• An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,
also called ELISA or EIA, is a test that
detects and measures antibodies in blood.
This test can be used to determine
antibodies related to certain infectious
conditions. Antibodies are proteins that
body produces in response to harmful
substances called antigens.
Types
• Direct ELISA
• Sandwich ELISA
• Competitive ELISA
• Reverse ELISA
Uses
• HIV, which causes AIDS
• Lyme disease
• Pernicious anemia
• Rocky mountain spotted fever
• Rotavirus
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Syphilis
• Toxoplasmosis
• Varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and
shingles
• Zika virus
• A blood sample is needed. Most of the time,
blood is drawn from a vein located on the
inside of the elbow or the back of the hand.
• The sample is sent to a laboratory where the
targeted antibody or antigen is linked to a
specific enzyme. If the target substance is in
the sample, the test solution turns a
different color.
• Principle of ELISA: Based on Basic
Immunology Response Lock and Key
Concept: 1) Antigen (key) 2) Antibody
(lock): –Key fits into the lock Enzyme
conjugate substrates • Bound to a secondary
antibody that binds with the antibody-
antigen complex.
Equipment's
• Microwell Plate: Flat bottom polystyrene plate,
contains 8 x 12 wells holding 350 μL each.
• Multipipette: An 8-channel 100 μL pipette is a good
help for even small-scale work.
• Washing Device:
– Manually operated washing devices.
– May be of use particularly when there is a risk that the
samples tested in elisa contain infectious material, so
must be collected for subsequent disinfection.
• Microplate washer:
– These are very efficient with unusually low carry-over
contamination.
Reagents Used
• Reagent Composition Coating Buffer 0.01 M
Phosphate Buffer + 0.15 M NaCl (PBS)
Diluting/Washing Buffer 0.01 M Phosphate
Buffer + 0.50 M NaCl + 0.1% Tween 20
Blocking Buffer Bovine Serum Albumin
(BSA) Enzyme Horse-redish peroxidase
(HRPO) Chromogenic Substrate Trimethyl
benzidine (TMB) Stop Solution 0.5 M H₂SO₄
VDRL TEST
• Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL)
Test is a slide flocculation test employed in the
diagnosis of syphilis.
• Since the antigen used in this test is cardiolipin,
which is a lipoidal extracted from beef heart, it
is not a specific test.
• This test is also classified as non-specific or
non-treponemal or standard test.
• The antibodies reacting with cardiolipin
antibodies have been traditionally termed
“regain”.
Principle
• Patients suffering from syphilis produce
antibodies that react with cardiolipin
antigen in a slide flocculation test, which are
read using a microscope. It is not known if
the antibodies that react with cardiolipin
are produced against some lipid component
of Treponema pallidum or as a result of
tissue injury following infection.
Requirements
• Patient’s serum, water bath, freshly
prepared cardiolipin antigen, VDRL slide,
mechanical rotator, pipettes, hypodermic
syringe with unbeveled needle and
microscope. Known reactive and non-
reactive serum controls are also required.
VDRL antigen
• The cardiolipin antigen is an alcoholic
solution composed of 0.03% cardiolipin,
0.21% lecithin and 0.9% cholesterol. The
cardiolipin antigen must be freshly
constituted each day of test. The working
antigen is a buffered saline suspension of
cardiolipin.
VDRL slide
• This is a glass slide measuring 2 X 3 inch
with 12 concave depressions, each
measuring 16 mm in diameter and 1.75 mm
deep.
Procedure
• Patients’ serum is inactivated by heating at
56o C for 30 minutes in a water bath to
remove non-specific inhibitors (such as
complement). The test can be performed
both qualitatively and quantitatively. Those
tests that are reactive by qualitative test are
subjected to quantitative test to determine
the antibody titres.
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