For medical diagnostics and anti-doping analyses, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) can be measured in serum using automated chemiluminescent immunoassays. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using dried blood instead of serum to measure IGF-1 concentrations with an automated IGF-1 immunoassay and to evaluate if IGF-1 concentrations from dried capillary blood and serum were comparable.

Blood samples (venous blood and capillary blood obtained from the arm skin using a device from Seventh Sense Biosystem) were collected with 20 μL Volumetric Absorptive Micro samplers (VAMS) (Mitra®, Neoteryx). These samplers offer the possibility of collecting a fixed volume of blood without perturbation by hematocrit. Starting from dried blood, an aqueous desorption in 0.9% NaCl was efficient to release IGF-1. The solution was directly analyzed on the automated IGF-1 immunoassay.

IGF-1 concentrations after extraction from VAMS were lower than in serum (due to the dilution performed for the elution of IGF-1) but measurable for serum concentrations over 50 ng/mL. In addition, IGF-1 on VAMS was stable for at least one month at room temperature. Following adjustment for dilution, serum and dried blood IGF-1 concentrations were of the same order. However lower concentrations were obtained from the capillary blood in particular for high serum concentrations.

In conclusion, a micro volume of dried capillary blood could be used to quantify IGF-1 with an automated chemiluminescent immunoassay. However, more data are needed to establish specific IGF-1 reference concentrations using dried capillary blood instead of serum.

对于医学诊断和反兴奋剂分析，可以使用自动化学发光免疫测定法在血清中测量胰岛素样生长因子1（IGF-1）。本研究的目的是评估使用干血代替血清通过自动IGF-1免疫测定法测量IGF-1浓度的可行性，并评估干血和血清中的IGF-1浓度是否具有可比性。

用20μL容积吸收式微采样器（VAMS）（Mitra®，Neoteryx）收集血液样本（使用Seventh Sense Biosystem的设备从手臂皮肤获得的静脉血和毛细血管血）。这些采样器提供了收集固定体积的血液而不受血细胞比容干扰的可能性。从干血开始，在0.9％NaCl中进行水脱附可有效释放IGF-1。该溶液在自动IGF-1免疫分析中直接分析。

从VAMS中提取后，IGF-1浓度低于血清（由于洗脱IGF-1所用的稀释液），但可测量50 ng / mL以上的血清浓度。另外，VAMS上的IGF-1在室温下稳定至少一个月。调节稀释度后，血清和干血IGF-1的浓度处于同一水平。但是，特别是对于高血清浓度，从毛细血管血液中获得了较低的浓度。

总之，可使用自动化学发光免疫测定法将微量的干燥毛细血管血用于定量IGF-1。但是，需要更多数据以使用干燥的毛细血管血代替血清来建立特定的IGF-1参考浓度。