ELISA test marks 35 years of answering medical questions

An assay developed decades ago is demonstrating its staying power and then some.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. April 3, 2006.

Washington -- Diagnosing numerous diseases and conditions became a lot easier 35 years ago when a fortuitous melding of research findings led to the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or ELISA test. This simple blood test and its many permutations are now so much a part of the medical landscape, physicians take them for granted.

The uses, of course, include detecting blood clots or allergies as well as pregnancy and infections such as HIV, Lyme disease, H. pylori, chlamydia, rubella, mumps and various rare viruses. The test is also instrumental in ensuring the safety of the nation's blood supply.

Tim Tobolic, MD, a family physician in Byron Center, Mich., orders at least two protein-specific antigen screens each day, not to mention checks for possible strep throats, pregnancies and hepatitis infections. "It's just a simple way of testing for different kinds of proteins and hormones," he said. "It probably plays a big role, and no one ever thinks about it."

Eva Engvall, MD, PhD, a professor at the Burnham Institute, an independent nonprofit research institution in La Jolla, Calif., was beginning her career when the test was developed and often is viewed as one of its inventors.

Dr. Engvall marvels at its popularity. "Now it's everywhere and used for everything." But she balks at the acclaim. "I get too much credit for this so-called discovery," she said. "What I did as a graduate student [working with Dr. Peter Perlmann, professor of immunology at the University of Stockholm in Sweden] was put pieces together that were already out there."