L-Lysine (Lys) is an essential amino acid since it’s not produced in the body and must be supplied through the diet. It’s one of the building blocks for protein, peptide and non-peptide synthesis, and is thus found involved in several physiological and biochemical processes. Imbalance in circulating Lys levels can be observed in many conditions such as inherited diseases on enzymes involved in Lys catabolism, diabetes-dependent cardiovascular disease, as well as human immunodeficiency viruses-1 infection.

In order to provide an accurate and easy-to-implement tool to evaluate Lys functions, we developed and validated a novel ELISA kit for Lys quantitation in plasma samples. The assay requires a sample volume as low as 20μL and is characterized by a 13µM sensitivity.