A comparison of conventional Western blot and semi-automated Western blot for diagnosis of AL-amyloidosis of Lambda type.

Sammanfattning

AL-Amyloidosis is a quite rare disease that is often diagnosed late and therefore faster diagnostic ability is of most interest. That is the reason why Clinical pathology at University Uppsala hospital wanted to evaluate switching from a conventional Western blot to a more automated system called Jess Simple WesternTM (Jess). The aim of the study is to evaluate Jess for diagnosis of AL-amyloidosis. The 12 samples were chosen for being strong positive for AL-Amyloidosis. These samples were analyzed on both platforms with conventional western blot as a control for the performance of Jess. The results of the study were inconsistent, sometimes bands were visible and sometimes there were large, aggregated proteins all over each column. The conclusion of the study was the inability for Clinical pathology at University Uppsala hospital to replace conventional Western blot with Jess, and the running hypothesis is that subcutaneous abdominal fat tissue requires a more extensive study where different preparation protocols and different adjustments are made. There are no previous studies on this subject as it will probably require some vast changes in the recommended protocol from Bio-techne.