ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVE AGONIST-ANTAGONIST INTERACTIONS BY NONLINEAR-REGRESSION

The rigorous estimation of a dissociation constant (K-b) for antagonis ts in functional assays has been sought by pharmacologists using a var iety of techniques ever since the regression method of Arunlakshana an d Schild in 1959. Here, Michael Lew and James Angus describe a simplif ied global regression method with improved accuracy compared to Schild analysis. The method is suitable for personal computers with standard graphing and statistical software. The accuracy of the predicted pK(b ) values and confidence intervals has been tested by comparing example s of published data, and by mathematical (bootstrap) simulations.