Service temporarily suspended from 30 October 2023. Please do not send samples until further notice.
Cambridge Life Sciences’ Reference Laboratory service provides access to new, non-routine and infrequently run tests. Assays selected from our extensive range can be run on one or many samples to suit customer needs, as part of a support service or to fulfil a particular study.
Initial diagnosis and subsequent monitoring of disease and treatments can be particularly difficult for laboratory technicians and clinicians, especially if the numbers of patients are small and/or the testing is infrequent.
The Reference Laboratory can also provide materials for reference and QC schemes.
The Cambridge Life Sciences Reference Laboratory offers access to:
- Confirmatory tests and advice from experienced laboratory specialists
- Non-routine tests with no investment in expertise or equipment
- New diagnostic tests and strategies without commitment of time or resource
- Reference materials
- The tests are performed on sera or plasma samples
We offer the following specific assays, but please ask if you don't see what you need listed:
Autoimmune Sensorineural Hearing Loss (ASNHL) test
Autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss (ASNHL), also called autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED), is characterised by bilateral, rapidly progressive sensorineural hearing loss over a period of weeks to months. The CLS Reference Lab offers Antibody line immunoassay for use in the detection and identification of antibodies to the 68kD (hsp-70) antigen associated with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).
SAMPLE PREPARATION & TRANSPORTATION:
Serum is required for immunological studies related to autoimmune hearing loss. 5 - 10 mL of whole blood should be collected without any anticoagulants. Red top Vacutainer® or serum separator tubes (SST) can be used for collecting blood.
A minimum of 250µL - 500µL Serum, separated from the clot, can be sent in a specimen container designed to be transported by post. If separation facilities are not available, whole blood can be sent instead, although this may result in haemolysis of the sample.
Serum specimens do not have to be refrigerated or frozen during transport but should be sent next day delivery. Do not ship samples on a Friday. Samples are normally processed within a 10 working day period and the results are sent by post or email to the clinician or the department requesting the test.
ORDERING INFORMATION:
The sample should be accompanied by the following:
- A purchase order number for test RL437 is required which is recognised by the accounts department responsible for paying the invoice
- A contact name and email
- The address and/or email address to send the results to
- The invoice address
- A pathology request form for “68kD / Hsp70 antibody” or “Autoimmune Sensorineural Hearing Loss test”, with details of the Patient Name, date of birth and reference I.D.
LISATracker Assays for Biotherapy Patients
The CLS reference laboratory can perform all the LisaTracker assays for monitoring patients under biotherapies. This includes drug and anti-drug monitoring for the following biologics:
- Infliximab
- Adalimumab
- Etanercept
- Certolizumab Pegol
- Golimumab
- Rituximab
- Tocilizumab
- Bevacizumab
- Trastuzumab
- Ustekinumab
- Vedolizumab
Please note: These tests are performed on sera or plasma samples
Information on the LisaTracker assays can be found here.
Kit IFU's can be found in our downloads page.
To access the Reference Laboratory or for details of tests available in each category, please contact us on info@clsdiagnostics.com