A novel method for multiple cytokines/chemokines DropArray assay in 5 μL of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in mice.

We report a novel method to analyze multiple cytokines/chemokines in 5 μL of BALF in mice. The methodology relies on micro-volume wall-less immunoassays combined with Luminex magnetic bead multiplex technology. This new method has been demonstrated with good validity, veracity, and sensitivity by comparing it with the existing conventional Luminex method, as well comparing the values of BALF cytokines/chemokines from functional inflammatory stimulated mice with that of healthy mice. Compared with conventional Luminex method, it also showed obvious advantages in some other aspects such as the sample volume was minimized to 5 μL, the consumption of reagents and beads was reduced by a factor of 5 and the total cost of experiments was significantly reduced by 80%, which would have wide applications in the field of multiple cytokines/chemokines analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]