A Quantitative Point-of-Need Assay for the Assessment of Vitamin D3 Deficiency. Issue 1 (December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vemulapati, S.; Rey, E.; O'Dell, D.; Mehta, S.; Erickson, D.
• Is Part Of: Scientific reports. Volume 7:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 8
• Publication Date: 2017-12
• Subjects: Natural history -- Research -- Periodicals; Biology -- Research -- Periodicals; Physical sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Earth sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 502.85
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13044-5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-2322

Abstract

Abstract Vitamin D is necessary for the healthy growth and development of bone and muscle. Vitamin D deficiency, which is present in 42% of the US population, is often undiagnosed as symptoms may not manifest for several years and long-term deficiency has been linked to osteoporosis, diabetes and cancer. Currently the majority of vitamin D testing is performed in large-scale commercial laboratories which have high operational costs and long times-to-result. Development of a low-cost point-of-need assay could be transformative to deficiency analysis in limited-resource settings. The best biomarker of vitamin D status, 25hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3 ), however, is particularly challenging to measure in such a format due to complexities involved in sample preparation, including the need to separate the marker from its binding protein. Here we present a rapid diagnostic test for the accurate, quantitative assessment of 25(OH)D3 in finger-stick blood. The assay is accompanied by a smartphone-assisted portable imaging device that can autonomously perform the necessary image processing. To achieve accurate quantification of 25(OH)D3, we also demonstrate a novel elution buffer that separates 25(OH)D3 from its binding protein in situ, eliminating the need for sample preparation. In human trials, the accuracy of our platform is 90.5%.