ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Reusable biostrip consisting enzymes immobilized onto alkylamine glass beads affixed on plasticized PVC strip for determination of triglyceride (TG) suffers from high cost of beads and their detachments during washings for reuse, leading to loss of activity. The purpose of this study was to develop a cheaper and stable biostrip for investigation of TG levels in serum. Methods: A reusable enzyme-strip was prepared for TG determination by co-immobilizing lipase, glycerol kinase (GK), glycerol-3-phosphate oxidase (GPO) and peroxidase (HRP) directly onto plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) strip through glutaraldehyde coupling. The method was evaluated by studying its recovery, precision and reusability. Results: The enzyme-strip showed optimum activity at pH 7.0, 35oC and a linear relationship between its activity and triolein concentration in the range 0.1 to 15 mM. The strip was used for determination of serum TG. The detection limit of the method was 0.1 mM. Analytical recovery of added triolein was 96 per cent. Within and between batch coefficients of variation (CV) were 2.2 and 3.7 per cent, respectively. A good correlation (r=0.99) was found between TG values by standard enzymic colrimetric method employing free enzymes and the present method. The strip lost 50 per cent of its initial activity after its 200 uses during the span of 100 days, when stored at 4oC. Interpretation & conclusions: The nitrating acidic treatment of plasticized PVC strip led to glutaraldehyde coupling of four enzymes used for enzymic colourimetric determination of serum TG. The strip provided 200 reuses of enzymes with only 50 per cent loss of its initial activity. The method could be used for preparation of other enzyme strips also.