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Review
. 2020 Sep;7(3):211-221.
doi: 10.1007/s40572-020-00289-y.

Little to Give, Much to Gain-What Can You Do With a Dried Blood Spot?

Bryttany McClendon-Weary  1 , Diane L Putnick  1 , Sonia Robinson  1 , Edwina Yeung  2
Affiliations
Review

Little to Give, Much to Gain-What Can You Do With a Dried Blood Spot?

Bryttany McClendon-Weary et al. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Technological advances have allowed dried blood spots (DBS) to be utilized for various measurements, helpful in population-based studies. The following is a review of the literature highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of DBS and describing their use in multiple areas of research.

Recent findings: DBS can track pollutant exposure to understand their impact on health. DBS can also be used for (epi-)genetic studies, to measure clinical biomarkers, and to monitor drug adherence. Advantages of DBS include being minimally invasive, requiring low blood volume, and being cost-effective to collect, transport, and store. Disadvantages of DBS include the hematocrit effect, which is related to the viscosity of the blood affecting its spread on to the filter paper, causing a major source of error when assessing concentrations, and the possibility of low DNA volume. Numerous uses for DBS make them an important source of biomaterial but they require additional validation for accuracy and reproducibility.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Blood spots; Environmental; Genetic; Pharmacologic.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
The various uses of dried blood spots in scientific research
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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