MICROPLATE ASSAY FOR HYALURONAN USEFUL IN CLINICAL-PRACTICE

A microplate assay for determination of hyaluronan (HA) has been devel oped. In principle, HA in the sample and biotinylated HA compete for b inding to hyaluronan binding protein (HABP) coated to the plate. The a mount of the microplate-bound biotinylated HA is quantified with avidi n peroxidase complex. This assay is useful for 10 - 500 mug/l with < 2 % relative error with 50% inhibition at 80 mug/l. The assay is simple, sensitive and particularly suitable for the determination of HA in se rum and other biological fluids. The assay correlated with only commer cially available radioisotope kit, Pharmacia HA-50, with correlation c oefficient 0.92 at p < 0.001. Serum HA levels of patients with osteoar thritis, rheumatoid arthritis and healthy donors determined by this as say correspond to those previously determined by different methods. Th ese results suggest that this assay is suitable for clinical use.