Comparison of four low-cost carbapenemase detection tests and a proposal of an algorithm for early detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in resource-limited settings.

Rapidly progressing antibiotic resistance is a great challenge in therapy. In particular, the infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are exceedingly difficult to treat. Carbapenemase production is the predominant mechanism of resistance in CRE. Early and accurate identification of carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CP-CRE) is extremely important for the treatment and prevention of such infections. In the present study, four phenotypic carbapenemase detection tests were compared and an algorithm was developed for rapid and cost-effective identification of CP-CRE. A total of 117 Enterobacteriaceae (54 CP-CRE, 3 non-CP-CRE, and 60 non-CRE) isolates were tested for carbapenemase production using modified Hodge test (MHT), modified carbapenem inactivation method (mCIM), Carba NP test (CNPt), and CNPt-direct test. The overall sensitivity/specificity values were 90.7%/92.1% for MHT, 100%/100% for mCIM, 75.9%/100% for CNPt, and 83.3%/100% for CNPt-direct. OXA-48-like enzymes were detected with 93.2% sensitivity by MHT and >77.3% sensitivity by two Carba NP tests. MHT could only detect half of the NDM carbapenemase producers. CNPt-direct exhibited enhanced sensitivity compared to CNPt (100% vs 25%) for detection of NDM producers. Considering these findings we propose CNPt-direct as the first test followed by mCIM for rapid detection of CP-CRE. With this algorithm >80% of the CP-CRE could be detected within 24 hours from the time the sample is received and 100% CP-CRE could be detected in day two. In conclusion, mCIM was the most sensitive assay for the identification of CP-CRE. CNPt-direct performed better than CNPt. An algorithm consisting CNPt-direct and mCIM allows rapid and reliable detection of carbapenemase production in resource-limited settings.

A Simple and Direct Assay for Monitoring Fatty Acid Synthase Activity and Product-Specificity by High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

De novo fatty acid synthesis is a pivotal enzymatic process in all eukaryotic organisms. It is involved in the conversion of glucose and other nutrients to fatty acyl (FA) chains, that cells use as building blocks for membranes, energy storage, and signaling molecules. Central to this multistep enzymatic process is the cytosolic type I fatty acid synthase complex (FASN) which in mammals produces, according to biochemical textbooks, primarily non-esterified palmitic acid (NEFA 16:0). The activity of FASN is commonly measured using a spectrophotometry-based assay that monitors the consumption of the reactant NADPH. This assay is indirect, can be biased by interfering processes that use NADPH, and cannot report the NEFA chain-length produced by FASN. To circumvent these analytical caveats, we developed a simple mass spectrometry-based assay that affords monitoring of FASN activity and its product-specificity. In this assay (i) purified FASN is incubated with 13C-labeled malonyl-CoA, acetyl-CoA, and NADPH, (ii) at defined time points the reaction mixture is spiked with an internal NEFA standard and extracted, and (iii) the extract is analyzed directly, without vacuum evaporation and chemical derivatization, by direct-infusion high-resolution mass spectrometry in negative ion mode. This assay supports essentially noise-free detection and absolute quantification of denovo synthetized 13C-labled NEFAs. We demonstrate the efficacy of our assay by determining the specific activity of purified cow FASN and show that in addition to the canonical NEFA 16:0 this enzyme also produces NEFA 12:0, 14:0, 18:0, and 20:0. We note that our assay is generic and can be carried out using commonly available high-resolution mass spectrometers with a resolving power as low as 95,000. We deem that our simple assay could be used as high-throughput screening technology for developing potent FASN inhibitors and for enzyme engineering aimed at modulating the activity and the product-landscape of fatty acid synthases.

An optimized algorithm with improved turnaround time for detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales using the NG Test CARBA 5 in a routine laboratory.

Introduction. Rapid and reliable detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) from surveillance cultures is critical in supporting a good infection control programme. We implemented a new algorithm for CPE detection incorporating the NG Test CARBA 5 in January 2019.Aim. Our goals were to compare turnaround time (TAT), costs and staff requirements between the old and new algorithm, and to evaluate the performance of the CARBA 5 test directly on colonies grown on CARBA Smart agar.Methodology. We analysed and compared the TAT of CPE surveillance cultures processed using the old and new CPE screening algorithm. The total actual reagent costs and staff requirements for the new CPE algorithm were compared with the estimated costs and staff requirements of the old CPE algorithm.Results. Of 197 isolates included in the evaluation of the new algorithm, 64 were positive for carbapenemases by both CARBA 5 and Xpert Carba-R assay. Of the 133 that were negative, two were found to harbour NDM and IMI genotypes. Significant improvements in TAT were achieved with 88.7 % of cultures with CPE, reported on the same day as growth was observed on CARBA Smart agar compared to none in the old algorithm. The new algorithm incurred lower costs and, based on our workload, the new algorithm is estimated to save 28.9 man-hours annually.Conclusion. CARBA 5 performs well on colonies growing on CARBA Smart agar and significant improvements in TAT can be achieved without incurring additional costs or staff requirements.

GABA enzymatic assay kit.

We developed an enzymatic assay system enabling easy quantification of 4-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The reaction of GABA aminotransferase obtained from Streptomyces decoyicus NBRC 13977 was combined to those of the previously developed glutamate assay system using glutamate oxidase and peroxidase. The three-enzyme system allowing GABA-dependent dye formation due to the oxidative coupling between 4-aminoantipyrine and Trinder's reagent enabled accurate quantification of 0.2 - 150 mg/L GABA. A pretreatment mixture consisting of glutamate oxidase, ascorbate oxidase and catalase eliminating glutamate, ascorbate, and hydrogen peroxide, respectively, was also prepared to remove those inhibitory substances from samples. Thus, constructed assay kit was used to measure the GABA content in tomato samples. The results were almost the same as that obtained by the conventional method using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The kit will become a promising tool especially for the on-site measurement of GABA content in agricultural products.

Low-concentration trypsin detection from a metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) platform: Towards the development of ultra-sensitive and rapid detection of proteolytic enzymes.

Proteolytic enzymes, which serve to degrade proteins to their amino acid building blocks, provide a distinct challenge for both diagnostics and biological research fields. Due to their ubiquitous presence in a wide variety of organisms and their involvement in disease, proteases have been identified as biomarkers for various conditions. Additionally, low-levels of proteases may interfere with biological investigation, as contamination with these enzymes can physically alter the protein of interest to researchers, resulting in protein concentration loss or subtler polypeptide clipping that leads to a loss of functionality. Low levels of proteolytic degradation also reduce the shelf-life of commercially important proteins. Many detection platforms have been developed to achieve low-concentration or low-activity detection of proteases, yet many suffer from limitations in analysis time, label stability, and ultimately sensitivity. Herein we demonstrate the potential utility of fluorescein derivatives as fluorescent labels in a new, turn-off enzymatic assay based on the principles of metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF). For fluorescein sodium salt alone on nano-slivered 96-well plates, or Quanta Plates™, we report up to 11,000x enhancement for fluorophores within the effective coupling or enhancement volume region, defined as ~100 nm from the silver surface. We also report a 9% coefficient of variation, and detection on the picomolar concentration scale. Further, we demonstrate the use of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled YebF protein as a coating layer for a MEF-based, Quanta Plate™ enzymatic activity assay using trypsin as the model enzyme. From this MEF assay we achieve a detection limit of ~1.89 ng of enzyme (2.8 mBAEE activity units) which corresponds to a minimum fluorescence signal decrease of 10%. The relative success of this MEF assay sets the foundation for further development and the tuning of MEF platforms for proteolytic enzyme sensing not just for trypsin, but other proteases as well. In addition, we discuss the future development of ultra-fast detection of proteases via microwave-accelerated MEF (MAMEF) detection technologies.

Dual enzyme-assisted one-step isothermal real-time amplification assay for ultrasensitive detection of polynucleotide kinase activity.

A novel, simple, one-step and one-tube detection method was developed for ultrasensitive detection of polynucleotide kinase (PNK) activity on the basis of dual enzyme-synergistic signal amplification. This method was also demonstrated to work well for PNK inhibitor screening and endogenous PNK detection in cell lysates at a single-cell level.

Fast, affordable and eco-friendly enzyme kinetic method for the assay of α-ketoglutaric acid in medical product and sports supplements.

A novel kinetic method was developed for the quantitation of α-ketoglutaric acid (AKG) in cardioplegic solution and athletic supplements. The assay relied on an enzymatic transamination of AKG and d-4-hydroxyphenylglycine to form 4-hydroxybenzoylformic acid and l-glutamic acid using d-phenylglycine aminotransferase. Since 4-hydroxybenzoylformic acid absorbed UV strongly at 334 nm, the initial rate of the reaction was determined by the increasing absorbance at this wavelength without the need for colorimetric probes or coupling reactions, and this information was used for the construction of a standard curve against AKG concentration. The method showed good linearity (r2 = 0.9994) over an AKG concentration range of 20-160 µM. The limits of detection and quantitation were 4.09 and 13.62 µM respectively. It was simple, inexpensive, accurate and precise, as well as repeatable, and was not interfered with by excipients in the samples. Regarding the environmental friendliness, the method was free from the use of organic solvents or hazardous reagents and required no chemical pre-treatment of samples. The proposed method gave assay results tested in real samples in agreement with the HPLC method and commercial assay kits, therefore being suitable for routine analysis of AKG in quality control laboratories.

High throughput detection of deamidation using S-(5'-adenosyl)-l-homocysteine hydrolase and a fluorogenic reagent.

Deamidation of asparagine (Asn) residues is one of the most common chemical degradation pathways observed in proteins. This reaction must be understood and controlled in therapeutic drug candidates, as chemical changes can affect their efficacy and safety. The analytical tools available for detection of deamidation reaction products, such as isoaspartic acid residues, are either chromatographic or electrophoretic, and require MS detection for absolute identification of peaks. High-throughput measurement of protein degradation has typically been limited to probing the target's physical state using spectroscopic techniques. Here, we describe a high throughput assay for isoaspartate residues using fluorescent detection in a microtiter plate format. The method allows for fast detection of protein deamidation in a cost-efficient manner. The method can be employed even if the target peptide or protein contains free Cys residues. The technique appears to be selective, linear, and accurate.

A simple and precise method to detect sterol esterification activity of lecithin/cholesterol acyltransferase by high-performance liquid chromatography.

The measurement of lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT, EC 2.3.1.43) activity is important in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) metabolism study and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment. However, current methods suffer from complex design and preparation of exogenous substrate, low reproducibility, and interference of cofactors. In this study, we developed a simple and precise high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the measurement of LCAT activity. By using 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) and 1,2-didecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine(10:0PC) as substrates, and an LCAT activating peptide (P642) as activator and emulsifier, the substrate reagent was easily made by vortex. The substrate reagent was mixed with serum samples (50:1, v/v) and incubated at 37 °C for 1 h. After incubation, the lipid was extracted with hexane and ethanol. With a conjugated double bond and ultraviolet absorption, 7-DHC and its esterification product could be separated and analyzed by a single HPLC run without calibration. LCAT activity was a linear function of the serum sample volume and the intra- and total assay coefficients of variation (CV) less than 2.5% were obtained under the standardized conditions. The substrate reagent was stable, and assay result accurately reflected LCAT activity. LCAT activities in 120 healthy subjects were positively correlated with triglyceride (P < 0.05), fractional esterification rate of HDL cholesterol (FERHDL) (P < 0.0001), and negatively correlated with apolipoprotein AI (apoAI) (P < 0.05) and HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) (P < 0.001). These results suggest that this method is sensitive, reproducible, and not greatly influenced by serum components and added substances, and will be a useful tool in the lipid metabolism study and the risk assessment of CVD.

Evaluation of the modified carbapenem inactivation method for the detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) are increasing worldwide. Rapid and accurate detection of CPE is necessary for appropriate antimicrobial treatment and hospital infection control. However, CPE contains some strains that are difficult to detect depending on genotype and MIC value of carbapenem, and a detection method has not been established. The recently reported modified carbapenem inactivation method (mCIM) has been developed in CLSI M100-S27 as a phenotypic technique for detecting carbapenemase activity. In the present study, we examined mCIM as a new CPE detection method using 207 Enterobacteriaceae isolates in comparison with the three existing screening methods of modified Hodge test, Carba NP test and carbapenem inactivation method and evaluated its performance. Consequently, both the sensitivity and specificity of mCIM were 100%, indicating better results than the conventional screening methods. The mCIM is a useful tool for microbiology laboratories due to its simplicity, clear criteria, cost-effectiveness and availability at any laboratory.

Fast automated online xylanase activity assay using HPAEC-PAD.

In contrast to biochemical reactions, which are often carried out under automatic control and maintained overnight, the automation of chemical analysis is usually neglected. Samples are either analyzed in a rudimentary fashion using in situ techniques, or aliquots are withdrawn and stored to facilitate more precise offline measurements, which can result in sampling and storage errors. Therefore, in this study, we implemented automated reaction control, sampling, and analysis. As an example, the activities of xylanases on xylotetraose and soluble xylan were examined using high-performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). The reaction was performed in HPLC vials inside a temperature-controlled Dionex™ AS-AP autosampler. It was started automatically when the autosampler pipetted substrate and enzyme solution into the reaction vial. Afterwards, samples from the reaction vial were injected repeatedly for 60 min onto a CarboPac™ PA100 column for analysis. Due to the rapidity of the reaction, the analytical method and the gradient elution of 200 mM sodium hydroxide solution and 100 mM sodium hydroxide with 500 mM sodium acetate were adapted to allow for an overall separation time of 13 min and a detection limit of 0.35-1.83 mg/L (depending on the xylooligomer). This analytical method was applied to measure the soluble short-chain products (xylose, xylobiose, xylotriose, xylotetraose, xylopentaose, and longer xylooligomers) that arise during enzymatic hydrolysis. Based on that, the activities of three endoxylanases (EX) were determined as 294 U/mg for EX from Aspergillus niger, 1.69 U/mg for EX from Bacillus stearothermophilus, and 0.36 U/mg for EX from Bacillus subtilis. Graphical abstract Xylanase activity assay automation.

A Sensitive, Rapid, and Specific Technique for the Detection of Collagenase Using Zymography.

In-gel zymography is a commonly employed tool to identify active enzymes in a quantitative and qualitative manner. In this work, apart from the incorporation of substrate which is traditionally employed in zymography, the identification of collagenase by incubation of the enzyme resolved on a polyacrylamide gel with substrate solution is described. The two methods are quite fast and result in specific detection of bacterial collagenase.

A Rapid Procedure for the Purification of 8-Aminopyrene Trisulfonate (APTS)-Labeled Glycans for Capillary Electrophoresis (CE)-Based Enzyme Assays.

Purified glycan standards are required for glycan arrays, characterizing substrate specificities of glycan-active enzymes, and to serve as retention-time or mobility standards for various separation techniques. This chapter describes a method for the rapid separation, and subsequent desalting, of glycans labeled with the highly fluorescent fluorophore 8-aminopyrene 1,3,6-trisulfonate (APTS). By using fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE) on polyacrylamide gels, which utilizes equipment readily available in most molecular biology laboratories, many APTS-labeled glycans can be simultaneously resolved. Excising specific gel bands containing the desired APTS-labeled glycans, followed by glycan elution from the gel and subsequent solid-phase extraction (SPE), yields single glycan species free of excess labeling reagents and buffer components. This chapter describes a FACE/SPE procedure ideal for preparing glycans for capillary electrophoresis (CE)-based enzyme assays, as well as for the purification of rare, commercially unavailable glycans from tissue culture samples.

A simple, rapid and sensitive plate assay for detection of microbial hyaluronidase activity.

Hyaluronidase (hyase) is a glycosidase enzyme that predominantly degrades hyaluronic acid (HA) having important applications in many biotechnological processes and therapeutics. Several assay methods have been proposed to screen hyase producing microorganisms; however, they rely on unique reagents and sophisticated instruments, which are expensive and could be unavailable in general laboratories. In the present studies, a rapid, simple, sensitive, highly reproducible, and cost-effective qualitative plate assay has been developed for the screening of hyase producing microorganisms. The routinely used plate assay method of Richman and Baer requires a special chemical cetylpyridinium chloride and long incubation period of 20 h; but still, the zones of clearance are not very clear and distinct. While, the present method requires an incubation period of only 1 h and the distinct zones of clearance appear with Gram's iodine within 1 min of time. This method does not require any special medium, unlike previously reported methods. Moreover, use of commonly available Gram's iodine makes this method suitable for many researchers. The results of the assay method were validated by TLC, zymographic analysis and determining the growth of isolates in minimal medium containing HA as a sole carbon source.

Flow Cytometric Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Assay Enables a Fast and Accurate Human Umbilical Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Assessment.

OBJECTIVE: Colony-forming units of granulocytes/macrophages (CFU-GM) analysis is the most widely used method to determine the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) content of human umbilical cord blood (CB) for prediction of engraftment potential. The measurement of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity is a more recent method for HSC qualification. Our aim was to correlate phenotypic and functional assays to find the most predictive method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, flow cytometric quantitation of CD34+ cells and ALDH positivity along with CFU-GM capacity were assessed in fresh and post-thaw CB units. RESULTS: Among 30 post-processing samples, for each CB unit the mean total number of nucleated cells (TNCs) was (93.8±30.1)x107, CD34+ cells were (3.85±2.55)x106, ALDH+ cells were (3.14±2.55)x106, and CFU-GM count was (2.64±1.96)x105. Among an additional 19 post-thaw samples the cell counts were as follows: TNCs, (32.79±17.27)x107; CD34+, (2.18±3.17)x106; ALDH+, (2.01±2.81)x106; CFU-GM, (0.74±0.92)x105. Our findings showed that in fresh samples TNCs, CD34+ cells, and ALDH correlated highly with counts of CFU-GM, CFU-erythroids/granulocytes-macrophages/megakaryocytic cells (GEMM), and burst forming units of erythroids (BFU-E) as follows: TNCs, r=0.47, r=0.35, r=0.41; CD34+, r=0.44, r=0.54, r=0.41; and ALDH, r=0.63, r=0.45, r=0.6, respectively. In terms of post-thaw samples, the correlations were as follows: TNCs, r=0.59, r=0.46, r=0.56; CD34+, r=0.67, r=0.48, r=0.61; and ALDH, r=0.61, r=0.67, r=0.67, for CFU-GM, CFU-GEMM, and BFU-E, respectively. All correlations were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In our experience, HSC assessment by ALDH activity yields the highest correlation with conventional analytical methods, particularly for post-thaw samples. Thus, this fast, inexpensive method has the potential to overcome the weaknesses of other techniques.

A simple, fast, label-free colorimetric method for detection of telomerase activity in urine by using hemin-graphene conjugates.

Telomerase, a widely accepted cancer biomarker for early cancer diagnostics, is considered as an important therapeutic target. To now, it is still a challenging subject to develop a simple and sensitive strategy for telomerase activity detection. Herein, we reported a simple colorimetric strategy for label-free quantification of human telomerase activity in urine by using hemin-graphene nanomaterial (H-GNs). H-GNs possessed tailored dispersibility in the high salt concentration and highly active biomimetic oxidation catalyst property. In this strategy, H-GNs were adjusted to coagulate to appropriate degree by carefully selecting the contained NaCl amount in the presence of original TS primer. The supernatant of the solution contained few H-GNs and showed light blue color. Under the action of telomerase, TS primer was elongated with repeating sequences of (TTAGGG)n. These negatively charged DNA enhanced individual H-GNs electrostatic repulsion and resisted salt-induced H-GNs coagulation. As a result, the supernate of the corresponding solution containing more dispersed H-GNs and showed dark blue color after chromogenic reaction. Thus, telomerase activity could be quasi-quantified by naked eye and precise quantified by UV spectrometer. The proposed method has the linear range from 100 to 2300 HeLa cells/mL and the detection limit was 60 cells/mL. It has been successfully applied to detect telomerase activity in real urine samples. Obtained results were in good agreement with the clinical diagnosis. Therefore, this colorimetric approach affords simplicity, sensitivity and reliability in telomerase activity detection.

A novel live cell assay to measure diacylglycerol lipase α activity.

Diacylglycerol lipase α (DAGLα) hydrolyses DAG to generate the principal endocannabinoid (eCB) 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) in the central nervous system. DAGLα dependent cannabinoid (CB) signalling has been implicated in numerous processes including axonal growth and guidance, adult neurogenesis and retrograde signalling at the synapse. Recent studies have implicated DAGLα as an emerging drug target for several conditions including pain and obesity. Activity assays are critical to the drug discovery process; however, measurement of diacylglycerol lipase (DAGL) activity using its native substrate generally involves low-throughput MS techniques. Some relatively high-throughput membrane based assays utilizing surrogate substrates have been reported, but these do not take into account the rate-limiting effects often associated with the ability of a drug to cross the cell membrane. In the present study, we report the development of a live cell assay to measure DAGLα activity. Two previously reported DAGLα surrogate substrates, p-nitrophenyl butyrate (PNPB) and 6,8-difluoro-4-methylumbelliferyl octanoate (DiFMUO), were evaluated for their ability to detect DAGLα activity in live cell assays using a human cell line stably expressing the human DAGLα transgene. Following optimization, the small molecule chromogenic substrate PNPB proved to be superior by providing lower background activity along with a larger signal window between transfected and parental cells when compared with the fluorogenic substrate DiFMUO. The assay was further validated using established DAGL inhibitors. In summary, the live cell DAGLα assay reported here offers an economical and convenient format to screen for novel inhibitors as part of drug discovery programmes and compliments previously reported high-throughput membrane based DAGL assays.

Development of a new HPLC method using fluorescence detection without derivatization for determining purine nucleoside phosphorylase activity in human plasma.

Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) activity is involved in cell survival and function, since PNP is a key enzyme in the purine metabolic pathway where it catalyzes the phosphorolysis of the nucleosides to the corresponding nucleobases. Its dysfunction has been found in relevant pathological conditions (such as inflammation and cancer), so the detection of PNP activity in plasma could represent an attractive marker for early diagnosis or assessment of disease progression. Thus the aim of this study was to develop a simple, fast and sensitive HPLC method for the determination of PNP activity in plasma. The separation was achieved on a Phenomenex Kinetex PFP column using 0.1% formic acid in water and methanol as mobile phases in gradient elution mode at a flow rate of 1ml/min and purine compounds were detected using UV absorption and fluorescence. The analysis was fast since the run was achieved within 13min. This method improved the separation of the different purines, allowing the UV-based quantification of the natural PNP substrates (inosine and guanosine) or products (hypoxanthine and guanine) and its subsequent metabolic products (xanthine and uric acid) with a good precision and accuracy. The most interesting innovation is the simultaneous use of a fluorescence detector (excitation/emission wavelength of 260/375nm) that allowed the quantification of guanosine and guanine without derivatization. Compared with UV, the fluorescence detection improved the sensitivity for guanine detection by about 10-fold and abolished almost completely the baseline noise due to the presence of plasma in the enzymatic reaction mixture. Thus, the validated method allowed an excellent evaluation of PNP activity in plasma which could be useful as an indicator of several pathological conditions.

Immunomagnetic capture and colorimetric detection of malarial biomarker Plasmodium falciparum lactate dehydrogenase.

We report a sensitive, magnetic bead-based colorimetric assay for Plasmodium falciparum lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH) in which the biomarker is extracted from parasitized whole blood and purified based on antigen binding to antibody-functionalized magnetic particles. Antigen-bound particles are washed, and PfLDH activity is measured on-bead using an optimized colorimetric enzyme reaction (limit of detection [LOD] = 21.1 ± 0.4 parasites/µl). Enhanced analytical sensitivity is achieved by removal of PfLDH from the sample matrix before detection and elimination of nonspecific reductases and species that interfere with the optimal detection wavelength for measuring assay development. The optimized assay represents a simple and effective diagnostic strategy for P. falciparum malaria with time-to-result of 45 min and detection limits similar to those of commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits, which can take 4-6 h. This method could be expanded to detect all species of malaria by switching the capture antibody on the magnetic particles to a pan-specific Plasmodium LDH antibody.

A facile low-cost enzymatic paper-based assay for the determination of urine creatinine.

Creatinine is one of many markers used to investigate kidney function. This paper describes a low-cost enzymatic paper-based analytical device (enz-PAD) for determining urine creatinine. The disposable dead volumes of creatinine enzyme reagents from an automatic analyser cassette were utilised. Whatman No. 3 paper was cut into long rectangular shapes (4×40 mm(2)) on which the enzyme reagents, R1 and R2, were adsorbed in two consecutive regions. The assay was performed by immersing test strips into urine samples contained in microwells to allow creatinine in the sample to react with immobilised active ingredients and, then, traverse via capillary action to the detection area where chromogen products accumulated. The method is based on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) formation via creatinine conversion using creatininase, creatinase, and sarcosine oxidase. The liberated H2O2 reacts with 4-aminophenazone and 2,4,6-triiodo-3-hydroxybenzoic acid to form quinoneimine with a pink-red colour at the detection zone. The linear range of the creatinine assay was 2.5-25 mg dL(-1) (r(2)=0.983), and the detection limit was 2.0 mg dL(-1). The colorimetric enz-PAD for the creatinine assay was highly correlated with a conventional alkaline picrate method when real urine samples were evaluated (r(2)=0.977; n=40). This simple and nearly zero-cost paper-based device provides a novel alternative method for screening urinary creatinine and will be highly beneficial for developing countries.