Patent ID: 7723063

Claim:
A method for measuring the amount of the hepcidin peptide consisting of SEQ ID NO:28 in a sample of tissue or bodily fluid taken from a human, wherein the measuring comprises use of a competitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), comprising: (a) obtaining a sample of a tissue or a bodily fluid from a human, and preparing a solution comprising the sample of the tissue or the bodily fluid; (b) providing a known amount of a tracer reagent consisting of: (i) the peptide consisting of SEQ ID NO:28 oxidatively folded; (ii) a hydrophilic spacer consisting of two (2-(2-Amino-Ethoxy) Ethoxy) Acetic Acid (AEEAc) residues, wherein the peptide of step (b)(i) is covalently linked to the hydrophilic spacer at the amino terminus of the peptide; and (iii) biotin covalently linked to the hydrophilic spacer of (b)(ii); (c) providing an immobilized antibody that specifically binds to and is specific for the peptide of step (b)(i), and contacting the immobilized antibody with a blocking solution; (d) contacting a known amount of the solution of step (a) with a known amount of the reagent of step (b) in the presence of the immobilized antibody of step (c); (e) washing unbound tracer reagent from the solution of step (d); (f) detecting the amount of tracer reagent of step (b) bound to the antibody of step (c), wherein the detecting comprises use of a competitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA); and (g) calculating the amount of the peptide consisting of SEQ ID NO:28 in the sample based on results of the detecting of step (f).