Introduction
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless fluid that protects the central nervous system (CNS), which is comprised of the brain and spinal cord.
CSF is responsible for supplying nutrients and removing waste products to support cerebral metabolism. Changes in the composition, pressure, or color of the CSF can indicate the presence of specific medical conditions.
Intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis refers to the production of immunoglobulins within the CSF. This process may occur in response to infections and inflammation of the central nervous system, or other neurological disorders.
Binding Site offer a complete solution of specialized assays, validated for CSF samples to characterize intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis or help assess blood brain barrier function.
Complete Solution for CNS Assays
Designed to measure in paired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples.
Aid in the detection of intrathecal immunoglobin synthesis or blood brain barrier function.
CNS Assays
The measurement of intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis has been observed in various central nervous system disorders and is strongly associated with CNS inflammation and infections.1
There are several methods for detecting Intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis by analysing the CSF:
OCB is a well established, gel-based technique to detect intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis, however it can be challenging to perform:
IgG in CSF is another widely used technique. It has a quantitative and automated advantage over OCB as it can be readily performed on automated analyzers. However, this method has inconsistent agreement with OCB results.
Kappa free light chains (κFLC) in CSF is a newer biomarker for detecting intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis.
It also has a quantitative and automated advantage over OCB as it can be readily performed on an automated platform such as the Optilite® analyzer, using the Freelite Mx™ Kappa assay from Binding Site.
However, unlike measuring IgG in CSF, κFLC have excellent agreement to OCB while still overcoming the more challenging aspects of performing OCB.
Freelite Mx™ assays may aid in the characterization of intrathecal immunoglobulins synthesis in CSF analysis, like oligoclonal band analysis.
This rapid, quantifiable, automated assay helps overcome some of the inherent difficulties in performing OCB and may help bring clarity to challenging cases.