Introduction to immunological techniques in the clinical laboratory

Publication date: Available online 25 January 2020Source: Methods in MicrobiologyAuthor(s): Tony A. Slieman, Joerg LehesteAbstractThe field of immunology has exponentially expanded in the last few decades. This has much to do with the recent mapping effort of the human microbiome and discoveries of crosstalk, symbiosis, opportunism and disease. Along with a better understanding of the relationship between the human host and its microbiome, powerful immunodiagnostic techniques have been developed that have revolutionized clinical analysis laboratory medicine, including the study of microbial detection. In this introductory chapter we start out with an overview of both the innate and adaptive immune response specifically as they relate to widely used clinical laboratory techniques. We then provide a basic survey of hypersensitivities, as well as a comprehensive review of several of the immunodiagnostic techniques specific to serology, immunoassays and immunoblotting, including an overview of their immunological basis.
Source: Methods in Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research