A 'rescue factor' design was refined to demonstrate both analgesic efficacy and assay sensitivity.
Optimal conditions were identified for oligonucleotide attachment and hybridization/wash conditions, resulting in high assay sensitivity and reproducibility.
Should nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs be considered "proven" for arthritis, despite their problems with assay sensitivity [2,3]?
Without assay sensitivity, a trial is not internally valid and is not capable of comparing the efficacy of two interventions.
Lack of assay sensitivity has different implications for trials intended to show a difference greater than zero between interventions (superiority trials) and trials intended to show non-inferiority.
In contrast, a trial that demonstrates non-inferiority between two interventions, or an unsuccessful superiority trial, generally does not contain such direct evidence of assay sensitivity.
The authors of the study themselves, as well as several others, pointed out the low assay sensitivity of this study, and how only limited conclusions can be drawn from its results.
The assay sensitivity was approximately 0.3 ng/ml.
Consequently the constructs are compatible in vivo use, and can improve diagnostic assay sensitivity by allowing for the use of undiluted serum.
Therefore the use of conventional, steady-state fluorescence measurement presents serious limitations in assay sensitivity.