ESTIMATION OF TOTAL CHOLESTEROL FROM A SINGLE DRIED BLOOD SPOT – New application for an age old technique!

Abhijit K R; Dr.Kusuma K S; Dr.Vasudha K C; Miss Radhika K

Volume : VI, Issue : II, February - 2016

ESTIMATION OF TOTAL CHOLESTEROL FROM A SINGLE DRIED BLOOD SPOT – New application for an age old technique!

Abhijit K R, Dr. Kusuma K S, Dr. Vasudha K C, Miss Radhika K

Abstract :

Dried Blood Spot (DBS) technology is an age old technique used for analysis of various metabolites in screening infants for metabolic disorders. The same has been used to estimate serum Cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is either supplied through diet or produced by the liver. However, an excess of cholesterol intake and minimal physical activity causes the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the blood vessels leading on to cardiovascular diseases. DBS technique is simple, minimally invasive, cost effective and easy to handle. Hence, it can be used in epidemiologic surveys for screening of Non Communicable Disease risk. In this pilot study, the accuracy of the DBS method was assessed against the well–established methods of cholesterol estimation using serum samples. The effect of storing the DBS samples for a week was also determined. The samples were obtained by simple random sampling and the cholesterol levels were estimated using the Cholesterol Oxidase – Peroxidase method. The data was analyzed using Pearson correlation, ROC curve analysis and linear regression analysis. It was concluded that total cholesterol estimated using the dried blood spot sample was an excellent low cost test that can be used as a screening marker for early detection of cardiovascular disease risk.