The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), also referred to as enzyme immunoassay (EIA), is a popular immunological examination done to detect the antibodies, antigens, peptides, proteins and, glycoproteins in biological samples. This assay is convenient, quick, simple to execute, and can generate quantitative and qualitative data results. Thus, the ELISA kit is commonly used all across for biomedical research and discovery and diagnostic purposes. There are many ELISA tests, such as direct, indirect, sandwich, and competitive ELISA.

During ELISA tests, the enzymes and antibodies or antigens are used to identify a substance in a liquid sample (such as serum/plasma, culture supernatant, and cell/tissue lysate). It is a plate-based examination technique that involves the use of a solid surface (multi-well plate). It makes ELISA test different from all other antibody-based assays. With the help of this assay method, one can easily detect any molecule such as protein, lipid, carbohydrate, nucleic acid, etc. It helps in diagnosing infectious diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens.

Due to the popular demand for ELISA tests, there are several commercially available ELISA kits in the market for diagnostic purposes. So, it is important to choose the right ELISA test kit from several options available for analyzing the samples accurately. Therefore, different factors should be considered while choosing an ELISA kit.

Here are few points that will help you in deciding the right ELISA test kit 

• The species for testing – If you are working on the samples for classical models such as humans or mice, it is comparatively easier to find an authorized ELISA kit. But if the samples that are to be tested are of non-classical models such as monkeys, then there are a limited number of ELISA kits. You must always consider the physiological structure of the species that you are going to study before choosing the authorized ELISA kit.
• Consider the quality of the sample (analyte) for detection – Understanding the type of analyte (usual proteins) you are going to detect is important. A sandwich ELISA test is mostly suitable for the detection of large proteins with several epitopes like cytokine, whereas the competitive ELISA is done for identifying small molecules such as haptens. Majorly, the ELISA kits are authenticated on serum/plasma and culture supernatants. So, considering the kit instructions and specifications in detail before collecting the samples is necessary. It helps in ensuring if that particular kit is suitable for the sample or not. Moreover, how the samples are to be collected also influences the type of kit that needs to be chosen. Factors such as hemolysis and lipids also interfere in the performance of the examination. So make sure that all these factors of samples are noted well before selecting an ELISA kit.
• Type of antibodies – Contact the ELISA kit suppliers to get the information regarding the type of antibodies (such as a monoclonal or polyclonal antibody) used in the particular kit. For instance, it is favorable for the sandwich ELISA test to use the polyclonal antibodies to capture and monoclonal antibodies for detection.
• Identifying the purpose of the analysis – ELISA assay is used for determining both quantitative and qualitative results. The qualitative ELISA determines the simple positive or negative result of the sample, whereas the quantitative ELISA reveals the concentration of the analyte through a standard curve. So, you should be aware of the purpose of the analysis for choosing between qualitative ELISA and quantitative ELISA.
• The experimental protocol – When there is a need to test multiple analytes, try using the same protocol for all of them to avoid confusion between the assays. It would be best to always focus on using the ELISA kits that have a simple protocol, convenient operations, and short experiment time.

Contact Optofluidic Bioassay: Specialist for MicroFluere® Human Interleukin 6 (IL-6) ELISA Kit

Optobiotic Bioassay is best known for supplying the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits for quantitative measurement of natural and recombinant human Interleukin 6 (IL-6). This kit by Optofluidic Bioassay contains all the sufficient materials that help run the five MicroFluere® pre-coated 96-well plates. The MicroFluere® plates that we utilize in our ELISA kit give 5 to 10 times faster results using much smaller reagent volume. With the help of the MicroFluere® Human Interleukin 6 (IL-6) ELISA Kit, you can get précised, accurate, sensitive, and specific results easily. For more details about this ELISA test kit, you can directly get in touch with us.