Home sampled blood with Capitainer successfully used for multianalyte serology with the Luminex platform.
Stockholm, August 18th, 2021
A recent paper published in Nature Communication 2021 Jun 17, has used home sampling with Capitainer to establish a multiplex immune profiling method to study the response to COVID-19 infection.
Traditional laboratory test services require venous blood drawn by healthcare professionals. This does not only take resources from the healthcare system, but also expose individuals to infection. An alternative approach with rapid self-tests on the other hand does not fulfil the precision requirements. In this paper, the authors combine the benefits of rapid tests sampling with the strength of precise laboratory analysis by using Capitainers solution for home sampling.
2000 Capitainer qDBS home sampling kits were distributed to randomly selected inhabitants (aged 20-74) of the Stockholm area during April 2020. The kits were mailed in standard C4 envelopes together with instructions for home sampling and a questionnaire. The individuals participated voluntarily and returned the sample using the return pouch and a C5 prepaid return envelope.
The samples were analysed within 3–4 weeks after receiving the last blood cards using multiplex serology on the Luminex platform. Levels of IgG and IgM antibodies against SARS-CoV-2’s S, RBD, and N proteins as well as other relevant antigens were determined. Multiplexing also allowed the inclusion of antigens from endemic or new human coronaviruses, such as hCoV-NL63, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-1, or other the prevalent viruses such as Epstein–Barr virus to exclude cross-reactivity.
The study revealed a higher frequency of IgG positive samples towards the S-proteins compared to RBD or N proteins. Subjects classified as IgG+ for several SARS-CoV-2 proteins reported influenza-like symptoms more frequently than those being IgG+ for only the S protein. Among all seropositive cases, 30% were asymptomatic.
This is only a brief summary of the study. For more details, please refer to the original article.
Roxhed, N., Bendes, A., Dale, M. et al. Multianalyte serology in home-sampled blood enables an unbiased assessment of the immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Nat Commun 12, 3695 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23893-4
The study shows the power of using high quality home sampling with advanced analytical methods for randomized studies.
