Description
Principle of the assay: This assay employs the competitive inhibition enzyme immunoassay technique. The microtiter plate provided in this kit has been pre-coated with an antibody specific to IL-1. Standards or samples are added to the appropriate microtiter plate wells with biotin-conjugated IL-1. A competitive inhibition reaction is launched between IL-1 (Standards or samples) and biotin-conjugated IL-1 with the pre-coated antibody specific for IL-1. The more amount of IL-1 in samples, the less antibody bound by biotin-conjugated IL-1. After washing, Streptavidin conjugated Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) is added to the wells. Substrate solution is added to the wells and the color develops in opposite to the amount of IL-1 in the sample. The color development is stopped and the intensity of the color is measured.
Background: IL-1 has a major role in neuroinflammation. During inflammation, there are increased levels of TNF and IL-1 in the brain, and their presence may cause the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. Polymorphisms in IL-1 genes have been found to contribute to genetic susceptibility to some cancers, ankylosing spondylitis and grave's disease. In terms of clinical use, because of its characterization as a hematopoetic factor, IL-1 was given to patients after bone marrow transplantation to improve the engraftment. But soon it was discovered that the patients were experiencing symptoms of systemic inflammation. Pharmacological blockade of these receptors was then sought in order to relieve symptoms. The endogenous IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), also known as anakinra, was tried in clinical trials to lessen systemic inflammation, but did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference from placebo. Nowadays, the bloackade of IL-1 activity (especially IL-1beta) is a standard therapy for patients with autoimmune diseases or lymphomas. Anakinra (IL-1Ra) is FDA-approved as a therapy for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, because it reduces symptoms and slows joint destruction of this inflammatory disease. It has also been prescribed to patients with indolent or smoldering myeloma with a high risk of progression to multiple myeloma. In combination with other medication, IL-1Ra provides a significant increase in the number of years of progression-free disease in its recipients. The benefits of this treatment are the natural structure and no toxicity or gastrointestinal disturbances