enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
Meaning of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay: This laboratory test, commonly abbreviated ELISA, uses enzyme-linked antibodies bound to a solid surface to detect and measure a specific substance in a fluid sample.
Definition of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, commonly abbreviated ELISA, is 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 method relies on a solid surface to which the relevant antibodies and target substance bind during the test.
In the concluding step, an enzyme reaction produces a color change measured by laboratory equipment, with the degree of color change generally reflecting how much of the target substance is present in the sample. Several different formats of the test exist, varying in how the antibodies and sample are arranged on the testing surface.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays are used widely across medicine to help diagnose infections and other conditions, since the technique can be designed to detect either a specific antigen produced by an organism or the antibody a person's own immune system has produced in response to one.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmed the presence of the antibody in the patient's serum sample.
Good to know
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay can be built to detect either an antigen or the antibody made against it, so correctly interpreting a result depends on knowing which of the two the specific test was designed to measure.
Word origin
Where “enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay” comes from
Formed from enzyme, from Greek en-, meaning in, and zyme, meaning leaven, combined with immunosorbent, describing the antibody-coated surface used to capture the substance being measured.