ELISA
Meaning of ELISA: ELISA is a laboratory test that uses enzyme-linked antibodies to detect and measure a specific substance within a fluid such as blood serum.
Definition of ELISA
ELISA is an abbreviation for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, a laboratory technique that uses antibodies attached to enzymes to detect and measure a specific substance within a fluid sample, such as blood serum. The test is performed on a solid surface to which the relevant antibodies and other molecules bind.
During the final step of the test, an enzyme reaction produces a color change that can be measured using specialized laboratory equipment, with the intensity of the color typically corresponding to the amount of the substance present in the sample. Several variations of the ELISA method exist, differing in how the antibodies and target substance are arranged on the testing surface.
ELISA is used widely to help diagnose infections and other conditions, since it can detect either the presence of a specific antigen, such as one produced by a virus, or the antibodies a person's immune system has produced in response to one.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
An ELISA was performed on the serum sample to test for the presence of the antibody.
Good to know
An ELISA can be designed to detect either an antigen or the antibody produced against it, so interpreting a result correctly depends on knowing which of the two the particular test was built to measure.
Word origin
Where “ELISA” comes from
Formed from enzyme, from Greek en-, meaning in, and zyme, meaning leaven, combined with immunosorbent, describing the antibody-coated surface that captures the substance being measured.