Abstract
Objective: To validate a method for measuring endotoxin-core antibodies (EndoCAb) from dried blood spots (DBS)—drops of capillary whole blood collected and dried on filter paper—as an indicator of environmental enteropathy (EE) in infancy and early childhood. Methods: A commercially available enzyme immunoassay kit was adapted for use with DBS, with optimized steps for sample elution. Technical validation included analysis of linearity/recovery, precision and reliability, lower limit of detection, and correspondence between matched plasma and DBS samples. Validation in a field-based setting was implemented with samples from Peruvian infants (n = 82; age = 2–33 months) collected at two time points six months apart. Results: A high correspondence between plasma and DBS levels of EndoCAb was observed (R2 = 0.93, P <.001). The lower limit of detection was found to be 0.01 GMU/mL. Interassay coefficient of variation (CV) was 10.9% and 8.06% for low and high controls, respectively. Mean intra-assay CVs were 3.22% and 1.83%, respectively. In a sample of Peruvian infants, EndoCAb levels increased with age as expected (P <.001). Age explained nearly 34.6% of the variance in EndoCAb across the sample. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the validity and feasibility of measuring EndoCAb in remote field settings using minimally invasive DBS sampling.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | e23120 |
| Journal | American Journal of Human Biology |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1 2018 |
Funding
Fulbright Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship, the Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Northwestern University, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research The authors would like to acknowledge the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Mellon/ACLS, The Wenner Gren Foundation, the Fulbright Hays, Northwestern University, and the University of Pennsylvania for their financial support of this work. The authors thank the reviewer for their helpful comments that led to the improvement of this manuscript. The authors would also like to thank the volunteers and study participants involved in this research. Finally, the authors would like to acknowledge Moira Kyweluk, Virginal Huaman Ccuno, and Cecelia Machaca Perez for their assistance with sample and data collection. The authors have no conflicts to acknowledge. The authors would like to acknowledge the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Mellon/ACLS, The Wen-ner Gren Foundation, the Fulbright Hays, Northwestern University, and the University of Pennsylvania for their financial support of this work. The authors thank the reviewer for their helpful comments that led to the improvement of this manuscript. The authors would also like to thank the volunteers and study participants involved in this research. Finally, the authors would like to acknowledge Moira Kyweluk, Virginal Huaman Ccuno, and Cece-lia Machaca Perez for their assistance with sample and data collection. The authors have no conflicts to acknowledge.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Anthropology
- Genetics
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Anatomy