2021 · Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry · paywalled
Hematocrit and standardization in DBS analysis: A practical approach for hormones mainly present in the plasma fraction
Ackermans et al.
The finding, in our words
For hormones that reside mainly in plasma, such as 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 and testosterone, dried blood spot concentrations were independent of haematocrit and spotted volume. This removes the need for haematocrit correction and allows conversion to standardised plasma concentrations, simplifying result interpretation for decentralised diagnostics.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
A 2025 review maps 28 microsampling devices, from dried spots and volumetric absorptive tips to upper-arm liquid capillary collectors, and names what a laboratory must control before their results are used: the haematocrit effect in non-volumetric dried samples, interstitial fluid from finger milking, volume, haemolysis and transport stability. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic ask for the same two things, a device the patient can use safely and a sample fit for the test.
Capillary dried blood spots, after haematocrit-dependent conversion, showed good agreement with plasma for 25-hydroxyvitamin D quantification, with 90 per cent of results within 20 per cent of plasma and substantial to almost perfect agreement in status classification, supporting reliable home self-collection for large-scale vitamin D monitoring.
Heughebaert et al., Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine (paywalled) · source ↗
This study found that measuring thyroid-stimulating hormone via dried blood spots and a volumetric device showed high agreement with serum results, with classification accuracy exceeding 96 per cent. The volumetric approach demonstrated improved reproducibility and stability, supporting its use for decentralised thyroid function monitoring.
Bornikowska et al., Practical laboratory medicine · source ↗
Capillary finger-stick dried blood spots demonstrated strong analytical agreement with venous serum for prostate-specific antigen (R² = 0.987) and remained stable for 31 days across a wide temperature range. This less invasive microsampling approach enables at-home self-collection, supporting decentralised screening and tele-diagnostics for prostate cancer.
van Vugt et al., The journal of applied laboratory medicine (paywalled) · source ↗
Validated on 40 adults, leptin measured from finger-prick dried blood spots agreed closely with matched serum and stayed stable at ambient and raised temperatures for 72 hours; the authors present it as a route into groups such as children that venepuncture has kept out of leptin research.
Kim et al., American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · source ↗