Dried Blood Spots: Analysis and Applications

摘要

This literature review highlights recent advances and challenges in applying dried blood spots (DBS) as a cumulative technique for sample acquisition, transport, archiving, and prospective/retrospective bioanalysis on a large scale. The technique is minimally invasive, requiring microliters of typically peripheral blood; it is inexpensive and easy to multiplex and automate. DBS handling and logistics, e.g., storage and shipment at room temperature, allow its deployment even in resource-poor settings. DBS samples are compatible with a large number of bioanalytical methods, among them chromatography, mass spectrometry, DNA, and immunoassays. The range of established and emerging DBS applications is vast, to name only a few: large scale neonatal screening, preclinical drug development for lead validation, toxicokinetic (TK) and pharmacokinetic (PK) studies, clinical pharmacology, targeted and non-targeted metabolic profiling, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), forensic toxicology, doping or environmental contaminant control, and microbiological and epidemiological disease surveillance.