Which of the following is a disadvantage of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay?

Which of the following is a disadvantage of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay?

• A. Sensitivity
• B. Rapid results
• C. Titer detection
• D. Specificity

Answer: (C)

ELISA shines in detecting small amounts of antigen or antibody because it is highly sensitive and can yield quantitative results quickly, especially in high-throughput settings. But getting a precise antibody titer with ELISA isn’t as straightforward. To determine the titer you must run a series of serial dilutions and identify the highest dilution that still gives a positive signal, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. The process also introduces variability between runs, making exact titer values less reproducible. For these reasons, titer detection is considered a disadvantage of ELISA, even though the test excels at sensitivity, specificity, and delivering rapid results.

ELISA shines in detecting small amounts of antigen or antibody because it is highly sensitive and can yield quantitative results quickly, especially in high-throughput settings. But getting a precise antibody titer with ELISA isn’t as straightforward. To determine the titer you must run a series of serial dilutions and identify the highest dilution that still gives a positive signal, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. The process also introduces variability between runs, making exact titer values less reproducible. For these reasons, titer detection is considered a disadvantage of ELISA, even though the test excels at sensitivity, specificity, and delivering rapid results.