A homogeneous HLA-B*27 genotyping assay using dried reagent mixtures.

The presence of HLA-B*27 allele with patients suspected with ankylosing spondylitis can be used in the diagnostic process. We have developed an assay for typing for the HLA-B*27 in whole blood dried on sample collection cards using pre-dried reagent wells and homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence based PCR approach. Essentially only the sample needs to be added to the dry ready-to-use reaction well in order to start the homogenous amplification assay. The method was validated with 229 samples also typed with an existing DELFIA-based method and results of both assays were 100% concordant. The dried reagents were shown to be stable at least up to eight weeks at room temperature without any decline in their performance.