Launch of a new Vitamin D Assay

bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, has released the VIDAS® 25-OH Vitamin D Total test for the measurement of total vitamin D levels in human serum and plasma. This CE-marked assay can be run on the VIDAS, mini VIDAS and VIDAS 3 automated immunoassay platforms, and uses ELFA (Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay) technology to accurately determine both vitamin D₂ and vitamin D₃ levels, providing precise and rapid results within 40 minutes.

Vitamin D is a hormone synthesised by the body when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin. It plays an essential role in the body by promoting the absorption of calcium and phosphate, with deficiency causing rickets in children and secondary hyperparathyroidism and osteoporosis in adults. In addition, recent studies have shown that low vitamin D levels may be associated with a risk of diabetes, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, as well as certain forms of cancer, making accurate determination of vitamin D levels vital for many clinical pathways.

François Lacoste, Corporate Vice-President of the Immunoassay Unit at bioMérieux, commented: “We are extremely pleased to enrich our VIDAS menu with this new test. For clinical laboratories, this test represents a useful new tool, allowing many laboratories to perform vitamin D testing in-house, rather than sending samples to reference centres.”