I understand that ELISA is used to titre the amount of antigen present in a test sample based on the intensity of the chromogenic reaction of peroxidase on peroxide. So it means that the chromogenic reaction is based on the presence or absence of the antigen. So can ELISA, like lateral flow assay, be used as a simple assay to test the presence or absence of the antigen based on the colour reaction, without measuring the absorbance?
Sure! I
It is a bit more work than the latteral flow test and I would always include a negative and a positive sample just to be sure but it should work if there's an ELISA for your antigen or antibodies you can use.
Yes, as long as you have already known positive and negative samples to make sure that you can distinguish between them as judged by the color reaction.
Also in Lateral Flow (LF), you should have a negative and a positive control. Whether you use LF or ELISA for antigen detection (i.e. a yes/no decision) rather depends on availability, IMHO. In the end, it always is a threshold question.
Yes you can tune your ELISA to show presence or absence of antigen based on colour change and this can be useful for field operations.
Dr William Olaho-Mukani
Sure, you can use a qualitative ELISA for an ID test, as long as you have appropriate negative and positive controls to comparatively evaluate color of your test sample. You also need to verify the test for its specificity and limit of detection. In fact I used such an ELISA almost 30 years back in India with pertussis antigens. I could also get a semi-quantitative result by performing 2-fold serial dilutions of the standard and the test sample and then comparing the colors. I did not have an ELISA reader in my Institute at that time.
Yes, ELISA can be used as a simple assay to test the presence or absence of the antigen based on the color reaction.
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