Novel assay of antibacterial components in manuka honey using lucigenin-chemiluminescence-HPLC.

Five components (hydrogen peroxide, methylglyoxal, dihydroxyacetone, fructose and glucose) of New Zealand manuka honey (Leptospermum scoparium) were analyzed using lucigenin chemiluminescence high-performance liquid chromatography (lucigenin-CL-HPLC). We focused on active oxygen species produced from the components in order to easily detect these five components contained in manuka honey. H2O2 and O2- generated from these components were identified by lucigenin-CL and electron spin resonance (ESR), and the bactericidal effect of ROS was confirmed using E. coli. The previously reported assays for Manuka honey components have low specificities and require complicated preprocessing methods. As our results, the detection and identification of these components were possible within 30 min in lucigenin-CL-HPLC system, without any special treatment. It is considered that lucigenin-CL-HPLC is useful for the quality control and the analysis of various honey.

Development of a highly specific enzyme immunoassay for oxytocin and its use in plasma samples.

Background The peptide hormone oxytocin acts in the central nervous system and plays an important role in various complex social behaviours. We report the production of a high affinity and specificity antibody for oxytocin and its use in a highly sensitive enzyme immunoassay. Biotin that was chemically bound to oxytocin derivative containing zero to six lysines as bridge was the labelled antigen. Seven labelled antigens were used to develop a highly sensitive enzyme immunoassay. Methods Antioxytocin antiserum was obtained by immunization of oxytocin-bovine thyrogloblin conjugate to rabbit. Oxytocin sample was added to the second antibody-coated microtitre plate and allowed to react overnight at 4℃, then biotinylated oxytocin was added 1 h at 4℃, and horseradish peroxidase-labelled avidin was added and incubated for 1 h at room temperature. The plate was then washed. Horseradish peroxidase activity was measured by a colorimetric method using o-phenylenediamine (490 nm). Results The sensitivity of the enzyme immunoassay improved as the number of lysine residues increased; consequently, biotinylated oxytocin bridged with five lysines was used. A standard curve for oxytocin ranged from 1.0 to 1000 pg/assay. The detection limit of the assay was 2.36 pg, and the reproducibility was 3.6% as CV% ( n = 6). Cross-reactivity with vasopressin and vasotocin was less than 0.01%. Conclusion The sensitivity of the enzyme immunoassay could be improved by increasing the number of lysine residues on the biotin-labelled antigen. The proposed method is sensitive and more specific than conventional immunoassays for oxytocin and can be used to determine plasma oxytocin concentrations.