Patent ID: 7629129

Claim:
A method of detecting exposure of a subject to a chemical agent, comprising: collecting a hair sample from said subject; digesting an outer root sheath of a hair follicle bulb from said hair sample; binding antigens with antibodies after digesting said outer root sheath of said hair follicle, wherein at least one antibody binds antigens indicative of a growth stage of the hair follicle bulb in order to determine that the hair follicle bulb is in the anagen growth stage, and at least one other antibody binds antigens comprising chemical agent-responsive proteins; staining, by immunoreagents, layers of the hair follicle bulb, wherein the immunoreagents provide an indication of the bound antigen comprising said chemical agent-responsive proteins in the hair follicle bulb; and detecting a change in level of the chemical agent-responsive proteins from the stained hair follicle bulb for hair follicle bulbs in the anagen growth stage as an indication of exposure of the subject to the chemical agent, wherein said change in level is determined by comparing the level found in the subject to that of a control.