Biomarkers have the potential to explore the role of environmental, demographic, and socioeconomic factors on human health. During field studies especially in rural settings, collecting serum samples can be challenging because of sample collection, storage and transportation issues (McDade et al., 2007). Dried blood spots from a finger prick on filter paper allows us to collect the blood samples in a minimally invasive way for later laboratory analysis of biomarkers (Brindle et al., 2019).
In this pilot project, I will validate an immunoassay for anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) measurements using dried blood spots samples. Biological anthropologists consider AMH one of the best potential biomarkers to assess the ovarian reserve and reproductive age (Begum et al., 2016). The already available AMH immunoassays for clinical and field research are expensive and are only validated for use with plasma samples. The purpose of this research is to develop and validate a cost-effective AMH assay that works with field specimen collection protocols, specifically, with dried blood samples.
The Biodemography Lab already has paired dried blood spots and plasma samples collected for the purpose of assay validation. I will use 40 of those paired samples for this project. I will compare AMH levels between the paired dried blood spots and plasma samples using the same immunoassay. This validated immunoassay for the dried blood spots samples will be well suited and cost-effective for the use of anthropology field research of ovarian aging and development in the rural populations in low and middle-income countries where collecting and storage of the plasma samples are challenging.