2026 · Zhonghua yu fang yi xue za zhi [Chinese journal of preventive medicine] · paywalled
[Multicenter study on the establishment of continuous reference intervals for capillary blood IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in children aged 0-6 years in Jiangsu Province]
Yan et al.
The finding, in our words
Continuous age- and sex-stratified reference intervals for capillary blood IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were successfully established in children aged 0 to 6 years. External validation in 1,013 independent paediatric subjects confirmed that over 90% of capillary measurements fell within the expected percentile bands.
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.
Dried capillary blood spots taken by heel prick are the established standard for neonatal congenital hypothyroidism screening, with abnormal results requiring immediate confirmatory venous testing. Prompt levothyroxine treatment based on early microsampling prevents mental retardation, as IQ correlates inversely with age at diagnosis.
Agrawal et al., Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism · source ↗
Capillary thyroid stimulating hormone values in the 4-6 mU/L range in children with Down syndrome rarely indicate true hypothyroidism, as venous free thyroxine was normal in almost all cases. The authors propose a decentralised screening algorithm that uses repeat finger-prick testing after six months rather than venepuncture for school-aged children with borderline elevations, which could reduce patient burden and support patient-centric care.
McGowan et al., The Journal of pediatrics (paywalled) · source ↗
A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was successfully validated for measuring androstenedione, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, and 11-ketotestosterone in dried blood samples collected via volumetric absorptive microsampling. The dried samples remained stable at room temperature for up to a week and after postal transit, and plasma concentrations could be reliably estimated from the microsamples when adjusting for haematocrit.
Frequent dried blood spot sampling detected early changes in beta-cell function more effectively than mixed-meal tolerance tests or urine ratios, supporting its potential as a decentralised monitoring tool for clinical trials.
Dunseath et al., Diabetes care (paywalled) · source ↗