Oxford Biosystems Ltd

Saliva as a diagnostic matrix for hormone testing Did you know a healthy person will produce between 1 – 1.5 litres of saliva every day? The use of saliva as a diagnostic sample for the measurement of biomarkers such as steroid hormones, offers advantages for clinicians, patients and researchers in terms of convenience and it is non-invasive and painless to collect. Changes in levels of salivary hormones are sufficiently sensitive over short periods of time to make their measurement useful and relevant when studying situational stimuli and events. Steroid hormones are found in both conjugated and unconjugated forms in the blood. The conjugated form is excreted by the kidneys and the unconjugated form is mostly bound to binding proteins such as CBG (corticosteroid binding globulin) and SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). This bound fraction is biologically inactive and makes up 95-99% of the total hormone present in plasma or serum samples. In contrast, only the unbound, biologically active hormones cross membranes into saliva. Saliva therefore provides a potentially more useful and accurate measurement of biologically active hormone levels. Our colleagues at IBL International GmbH, part of the Tecan Group, have developed a range of products for testing hormone levels in saliva samples. Saliva collection devices, ELISA kits and LC-MS reagents are available for measuring the levels of a variety of hormones including cortisol, estradiol, estriol, testosterone, progesterone, DHEA and melatonin. The ultimate guide to saliva testing is the Tecan publication, Viva Saliva. This book contains more than 100 graphics and tables, presenting a comprehensive investigation of saliva as a diagnostic matrix for measuring essential analytes, particularly hormone analysis. The individual roles of these hormones are described, their clinical relevance, and insights into ongoing research, including the crucial role of maintaining hormone balance for overall wellbeing.It is a comprehensive guide that combines scientific expertise and practical knowledge, providing a deeper understanding of hormone analysis and its impact on overall health and wellbeing. Copies of Viva Saliva and information on all the IBL Tecan products are available from Oxford Biosystems for our customers in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Please contact us for more information and to discuss your specific requirements. https://lnkd.in/eYSstfYt #AssociationofLaboratoryMedicine #Saliva #SteroidHormones #Cortisol #Progesterone #Estrogen #Testosterone #Melatonin #Wellbeing

🎃Congratulations to our Alternative Jack-o’-Lantern Challenge Winner!🎃  Despite the fact that there is a scarcity of pumpkins in the UK this season our team decided to get creative and set out to make a Jack-o-lantern out of any fruit or vegetable—pumpkins were not permitted! The group gave it their all creating Halloween designs out of everything from bell peppers to grapefruit. Each participant brought a level of creative craftsmanship and eerie spirit that delighted us. A big congrats to the Winner for their amazing design! It was incredibly imaginative and perfectly encapsulated the Halloween vibe! 🏆👏.  And we are presenting it to your judgment. We at Oxford BioSystems adore these chances to get our team together for some seasonal fun and cultivate a creative and cooperative environment. We appreciate everyone who took part and displayed their artistic side. We can’t wait for Halloween next year! #OxfordBioSystems #OBS #Halloween2024 #JackOLanternChallenge #AlternativeJackOLantern #TeamBuilding #CompanyCulture #Innovation

The Deadly Six is an exhibition currently at Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) by Angela Palmer, commissioned by Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group to mark their 30th Anniversary in September 2024. The sculptures each represent an important vaccine in which the Oxford Vaccine Group played a key role including pneumonia, malaria, and the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Each sculpture is made of willow which has historical medicinal associations dating back thousands of years which include the treatment of colds, fevers, and some inflammatory conditions.   There are 6 sculptures suspended in the main court of the museum so you can walk around them and get a close look at the skill of the willow weavers.   Our CEO, Fiona Alcock, said “I have been involved with the supply of products for the laboratory investigation of pneumococcal disease for many years, but I have never seen the bacteria represented like this before. This beautiful installation and the skill of the weavers is well worth a visit to the museum.”   The exhibition is on until the 5th January 2025 and for more information please check out the museum's website at https://lnkd.in/e3WzuitJ #OxfordBioSystems #OBS #DeadlySix #OxfordVaccineGroup  #OUMNH

We’re excited to be at UK NEQAS Haematology 25th Annual Participants Meeting at the Birmingham Conference & Events Centre today. Please come and say hello to Connor and Sonia at our exhibition stand! #OxfordBiosystems #UKNEQAS #Haematology

Next week we will be exhibiting At the NEQAS Haematology meeting in Birmingham. This year we are launching the new generation of ESR analysers from Alifax S.r.l. The New Test1 2.0 utilises the same capillary photometry technology and also incorporates several new features including continuous loading of samples without barcode alignment and a new automatic washing procedure resulting in a marked reduction in washing volumes. An innovative high performance needle for sample withdrawal contains 4 holes to minimize the risk of blockages and downtime. We will also have the handheld G6PD analyser from SD Biosensor on the stand for you to try out their rapid test. https://lnkd.in/e6tdH2va ViennaLab are planning to launch new assays in 2025 for newborn screening and pharmacogenetics, so please come and talk to our representatives at the stand and let them know your requirements for screening tests for Sickle Cell ! We are looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday 8th October at the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre https://lnkd.in/egWAq9V3 #Haematology #ESR #SickleCell #NEQAS #G6PD #OxfordBiosystems #OBS

We're excited to be exhibiting at LabMed TNY Regional Meeting today at the Copthorne Hotel. Come and say hi to Scott and Sonia who are looking forward to talking about our product range with you. #Oxfordbiosystem #LabMedUk

This week is the LabMed TNY Regional meeting! We are looking forward to seeing you on Friday 13th September at the Copthorne Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne.  https://lnkd.in/enqNbcKZ Levels of steroid hormones can affect many complex processes in the body including metabolism, immune functions, inflammation and fertility. This event looks like a great opportunity for an update on a variety of topics in Endocrinology. Interest in the use of saliva samples for testing steroid hormones is certainly increasing this year. So If you are attending the TNY meeting, or know someone who is, please come and have a chat to us about the Tecan IBL LCMS and ELISA product. We will show you VIVA Saliva! The IBL book about saliva testing, which includes clinical information, technical information about the products and lists of relevant publications.  https://lnkd.in/eYSstfYt Ina addition to the saliva testing products we have a wide range of ELISA kits for specialised biochemistry and immunology markers. The NF-Light ELISA kit is now available for testing serum samples, making it an easy-to-use option for the investigation of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). #OxfordBioSystems #AssociationOfLaboratoryMedicine; #LabMedTNY; #Saliva; #SteroidHormones; #NFLight; #Cortisol; #Alzheimers #ELISA

It has been a year now since we became the exclusive distributor for IBL International´s extensive range of EISA kits in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Thanks to this agreement, and our long term business relationships with great manufacturers like BioVendor Group, BIOMEDICA CRO and Mediagnost GmbH, we are supplying ELISA kits to research groups involved in many exciting fields. The new Serum NF-light™ ELISA was developed by Uman Diagnostics and is distributed by IBL and their network of global distributors. This is a Research Use Only assay for quantitative measurements of human Neurofilament light (NF-L) protein in serum samples. Before now research on serum NF-Light has been performed using the SIMOA platform. This ELISA kit correlates well with the SIMOA kit and offers an easy to use alternative with a measurement level approximately 27% higher, for researchers without access to SIMOA. It is a great addition to our range of products for the investigation for neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease. If you are looking for ELISA kits to assist in your research please give us a call of send an email to our customer services team for more information. #NFLight, #neurofilament, #SIMOA, #Alzheimers, #Parkinsons, #MultipleSclerosis, #ALS

Following our post last week announcing that we’re a Carbon Neutral Business for 2024/2025, we wanted to highlight one of their tree planting projects within the UK. The Marston Vale Forest Creation has planted over 2 million trees between Bedford and Milton Keynes. Their goal is to have 30% tree cover, which means another 5 million trees need to be planted. Their project has not only helped the wildlife and the people, it’s helped clean our air and helped our planet in lots of other ways. If you’d like to read more of their story or donate towards the project, please check out the Marston Vale website: https://lnkd.in/ehjRZ9U #oxfordbosystems #carbonneutralbusiness #marstonvaleforest #socialresponsibility2024

In July, we submitted our carbon emissions data for 2023/2024 to Carbon Neutral Britain Ltd to have our carbon footprint calculated. This is our second year of collecting and reporting our carbon emissions and we are proud to announce we have reduced our carbon emissions by 11%. We are also pleased to announce Oxford BioSystems Ltd has been certified a Carbon Neutral Business for 2024/2025 by Carbon Neutral Britain™ having had our carbon emissions offset via their Woodland Fund™ portfolio. The verified carbon offsetting projects within the Carbon Neutral Britain Woodland Fund™ portfolio support reforestation and woodland management around the world. This includes woodland planting across the UK and climate action projects within Britain.  There is a strong focus on having a positive impact on local wildlife, ecology and biodiversity. Oxford BioSystems Ltd are committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. A summary of our carbon emissions, carbon reduction targets, and carbon reduction initiatives will be available on our website shortly – watch this space! (https://lnkd.in/e9ZUfibc) #OxfordBioSystems #CarbonNeutral #Sustainability2024 #SocialResponsibility