Clinical application of plasma thermograms. Utility, practical approaches and considerations

• DSC analysis of biofluids is an emerging area with application to clinical diagnostics.
• DSC profiles are sensitive to changes in the thermal properties of plasma proteins associated with clinical status.
• The principles, practice and challenges of DSC analysis of blood plasma are described.
• The development of approaches for thermogram analysis and interpretation are discussed.

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies of blood plasma are part of an emerging area of the clinical application of DSC to biofluid analysis. DSC analysis of plasma from healthy individuals and patients with various diseases has revealed changes in the thermal profiles of the major plasma proteins associated with the clinical status of the patient. The sensitivity of DSC to the concentration of proteins, their interactions with other proteins or ligands, or their covalent modification underlies the potential utility of DSC analysis. A growing body of literature has demonstrated the versatility and performance of clinical DSC analysis across a range of biofluids and in a number of disease settings. The principles, practice and challenges of DSC analysis of plasma are described in this article.