Overview of the History and Applications of Dried Blood Samples

Dried Blood Spots - Preparing and Processing for Use in Immunoassays and in Molecular Techniques

“…As early as in 1924, Chapman summarized the advantages of DBS testing when he particularly stressed four items, which are still valid today: (1) compared to conventional venipuncture, less blood volume is required and this fact was most important in pediatric diagnostics; (2) blood collection is simple, non invasive, and inexpensive; (3) the risk of bacterial contamination or hemolysis is minimal; and (4) DBS can be preserved for long periods with almost no deterioration of the analytes 2,4 . Besides its use in testing for syphilis, further early applications of the DBS technique included, e.g., the detection of antibodies against measles, mumps, poliovirus, parainfluenza virus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in 1953 2 , the identification of Shigella in feces dried onto filter paper and shipped by regular mail from Indonesia to Leiden in the Netherlands as well as the detection of antibodies to Schistosoma in DBS taken in endemic areas and analyzed more than three months later 5 . In 1963, fifty years after Bang's original communication 2,6 , Guthrie finally published his famous method for the diagnosis of phenylketonuria from DBS obtained by a heel prick from newborns 7,8 .…”

“…The idea of using blood collected on a paper card made of cellulose is ascribed to Ivar Christian Bang (1869Bang ( -1918, the father of modern clinical microanalysis 1,2 . In 1913, Bang determined glucose from eluates of dried blood spots (DBS) 3 and, later, also performed nitrogen measurements using the Kjeldahl method with this filter paper technique 2 .…”

“…Besides its use in testing for syphilis, further early applications of the DBS technique included, e.g., the detection of antibodies against measles, mumps, poliovirus, parainfluenza virus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in 1953 2 , the identification of Shigella in feces dried onto filter paper and shipped by regular mail from Indonesia to Leiden in the Netherlands as well as the detection of antibodies to Schistosoma in DBS taken in endemic areas and analyzed more than three months later 5 . In 1963, fifty years after Bang's original communication 2,6 , Guthrie finally published his famous method for the diagnosis of phenylketonuria from DBS obtained by a heel prick from newborns 7,8 .…”

“…In 1913, Bang determined glucose from eluates of dried blood spots (DBS) 3 and, later, also performed nitrogen measurements using the Kjeldahl method with this filter paper technique 2 . Subsequently, several investigators reported on the use of DBS for serological testing to diagnose syphilis 2 .…”

“…In 1913, Bang determined glucose from eluates of dried blood spots (DBS) 3 and, later, also performed nitrogen measurements using the Kjeldahl method with this filter paper technique 2 . Subsequently, several investigators reported on the use of DBS for serological testing to diagnose syphilis 2 . As early as in 1924, Chapman summarized the advantages of DBS testing when he particularly stressed four items, which are still valid today: (1) compared to conventional venipuncture, less blood volume is required and this fact was most important in pediatric diagnostics; (2) blood collection is simple, non invasive, and inexpensive; (3) the risk of bacterial contamination or hemolysis is minimal; and (4) DBS can be preserved for long periods with almost no deterioration of the analytes 2,4 .…”