Measurement of IL-6 and IL-8 in Ataxia-Telangiectasia

As previously described [11 (link)], venous blood was drawn from individuals undergoing outpatient evaluation at the Johns Hopkins A-T clinic between 2012 and 2014. Subjects were at baseline health and were not acutely ill at the time of their blood draws. The sera were separated and frozen at -80 C until analyzed. Concentrations of IL-6 and IL-8 were determined using commercially available EIA kits (R& D Systems, Minneapolis, MN). The optical density of each sample was determined using a microplate reader set to 450nm (Optimax, Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA). Data was calculated from a standard curve and the results reported in pictograms of cytokine protein per milliliter for each cytokine. The mean minimum detectable dose for IL-6 was 0.7 pg/mL and for IL-8 was 3.5 pg/mL. Samples were assayed in duplicate and values were expressed as means +/- SD. All sample testing was performed in a masked fashion.