Chemical assays--new opportunities.

The acceptance of the solid-phase format in various areas of clinical chemistry is the consequence of the advantages of this test format, which include stability of the reagents, unitized packaging, convenient and small instruments, and minimal preparations by users before testing. Overall, these advantages provide very convenient tests. Future successful uses of solid-phase reagents depend upon how well these features meet the needs of the users. Needs for systems to be used in the decentralized laboratory include even less cost, even more convenience, and improved quality control. Needs for home testing include convenient tests with clinically useful accuracy, improved quality control, and improved recording systems to overcome user bias in recording results. New solid-phase technologies being developed include noncolorimetric systems suitable for use with miniature probes, for in vitro or in vivo use, and spectrophotometric systems for determinations of analytes directly in capillaries of the skin without invasive sampling.

New dip-and-read test for determining leukocytes in urine.

A new reagent strip for the determination of leukocytes in urine (LEUKOSTIX; Ames) is described. The test is based on the esterase activity in leukocytes as a marker. Upon contact between the reagent matrix and a urine containing leukocytes, an amino acid ester is hydrolyzed by the esterase to its corresponding alcohol. The free alcohol then couples with a diazonium salt to produce a purple azo dye. The relative concentration of leukocytes in the urine is obtained by visually comparing the strip reaction with a color chart. Performance of the strip was evaluated in a clinical study involving eight different sites and 867 urine specimens. The comparison method was sediment microscopy; specimens containing five cells or more per high-power field were considered to be positive. Sensitivity was 76.3%, specificity 80.8%. Performance was comparable with that of the CHEMSTRIP LN (Boehringer-Mannheim Diagnostics, Inc.) leukocyte test, which we evaluated concurrently.

A reagent strip for measuring the specific gravity of urine.

A solid-phase reagent for determination of urinary specific gravity (relative density) is described. This reagent strip, similar to others in the "N-Multistix" series (Ames), contains a polyacid whose acidity is sensitive to the ionic concentration in the urine in which it is immersed. As the acidity of the polyacid changes, pH changes are detected by a pH indicator within the reagent strip. In comparison studies, 84.4% of relative densities as measured with these reagent strips were within 0.005 of the corresponding results with a total-solids meter, and 89.9% were within 0.005 of the corresponding urinometer results. Adding a correction of +0.005 to the reagent-strip results for urines with high pH increased the percentage of results within 0.005 of the comparison method to 90.7% (TS meter) and 92.9% (urinometer). Lot-to-lot variability and reader-to-reader variability were both low. Reagent strip results are not affected by glucose, may be increased by albumin, and correlate with urea concentrations.

Analysis of hog thyroglobulin. Identification of galactosamine and absence of lysinoalanine, a potential product of tyrosine coupling.

A small peak in the amino acid analysis of hog thyroglobulin was observed in the region reported for lysinoalanine and galactosamine. Since galactosamine had been previously reported absent in hog thyroglobulin, the possibility that this peak was lysinoalanine, a potential product of the coupling of two iodotyrosines, was investigated. Tests, however, showed that the material was galactosamine and that hog thyroglobulin contains no significant amount of lysinoalanine. Approximately 5 moles of galactosamine were found per mole of thyroglobulin.

The interaction of N-acetylglucosamine and an affinity-label analogue with alpha-lactalbumin and lactose synthetase.

We have attempted to detect binding of N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) to alpha-lactalbumin, the B protein of lactose synthetase, under conditions in which binding of NAG to lysozyme, a protein to which alpha-lactalbumin has a significant sequence homology, is observed. Using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, uv difference spectroscopy, competition of NAG with N-methylnicotinamide chloride, and fluorescence spectroscopy, no binding was detected. The synthesis of a NAG analogue, N-diazoacetyl-glucosamine (diazoNAG), was carried out, and the molecule was demonstrated to be an active galactose acceptor in the lactose synthetase reaction. Use of this molecule in photochemical labeling experiments resulted in a large amount of nonspecific labeling of alpha-lactalbumin, lactose synthetase A protein, ribonuclease, and lysozyme, but competition experiments in the presence of an excess of NAG revealed some specific labeling in the case of A protein and lysozyme, but not with alpha-lactalbumin or a ribonuclease control. Thus, it is highly questionable that a NAG binding site is retained in alpha-lactalbumin; furthermore, it appears that the galacyosyl acceptor makes significant contacts with the A protein rather than alpha-lactalbumin in the lactose synthetase complex.