GB2269898A - B12 Enzyme immunoassay - Google Patents

Abstract

A vitamin B12 assay which involves a sequential rather than competitive binding of the B12 with excess intrinsic factor followed by the binding of excess enzyme-labeled B12 to any remaining intrinsic and immobilizing such intrinsic factor on a solid phase, via streptaridin. Allowing the B12 to complex with intrinsic factor in solution results in maximum binding activity. Also disclosed are denaturing agents used to pretreat samples containing vitamin B12.

Description

B1~ ENZYME IMMUNOASSAY This invention lies in the field of enzyme immunoassays, with a focus in the area of assays for vitamin B12 .

Vitamin B12 is an organo-cobalt compound of molecular weight 1355.42. Vitamin B12 is not manufactured in the human body and must be ingested in order to meet our nutritional needs. There are several endogenous transport proteins in the body which aid in the absorption of B12 from food. Included among these are haptocorrins in the saliva which bind Bl2 as it is released during digestion. Another transport protein is intrinsic factor, found in the intestinal tract, which transports B12 across the intestinal mucosa into the blood stream. Further transport proteins are the transcobalamins in the blood stream, which bind B12 and deliver it to the tissues of the body that require it. In the blood stream B12 is present as hydroxy-, methyl- or adenosylcobalamin.These derivatives are formed by replacing the axial cyano group of B12 with the respective functional group. The terms ''B12'' and "vitamin B12'' as used herein are intended to encompass all of these derivatives collectively.

Since part of the B12 in serum is bound to transcobalamin binding proteins, any assay which measures B12 must first pretreat the sample to release the B12 from these proteins. A further interfering protein is anti-intrinsic factor antibody. This antibody when present, as it is in samples of patients suffering from certain states of pernicious anemia, must also be denatured during pretreatment since such antibody will interfere with any competitive assay which utilizes intrinsic factor as the B12-binding protein. A detailed discussion of these problems is found in Vitamin B12, B. Zagalak and W. Friedrich, editors (Walter de Gruyter & BR< Co., Berlin, 1979); B12 Volume 1: Chemistry and B12 Volume 2: Biochemistry and Medicine, D. Dolphin, editor (John Wiley & BR< Sons, New York, 1982).

To date the most common assays for Vitamin B12 are radioimmunoassays (RIA). Most of these methods utilize intrinsic factor bound to a solid phase and B12 radio-labeled with 57Co competing with B12 in the sample. The sample is pretreated either by a "boil" method or a "no-boil" method.

The boil method entails boiling the sample in the presence of a thiol compound at pH 9.3 to denature the Bl2-binding proteins and anti-intrinsic factor antibodies. Potassium cyanide is also included in the pretreatment solution to convert all forms of B12 to cyanocobalamin. In the no-boil method, sodium hydroxide and a thiol compound are added to denature the endogenous binding proteins and anti-intrinsic factor antibodies. Potassium cyanide is again added as in the boil method. After pretreatment, a neutralizer is added to bring the pH down to 9.3. This system has been investigated in detail by Allen in U.S. Patents 4,188,189, 4,351,822 and 4,451,571, which note the need to use purified intrinsic factor in a radio dilution assay and cobinamide in addition to alkali and thiol for the no-boil sample pretreatment.

While enzyme immunoassays have been known since the early 1970's - see, for example, Engvall, E., and Perlmann, P., Immunochem. 8:871 (1971) - the sensitivity; of the method has only recently been sufficiently improved to permit B12 to be measured at clinically significant levels (i.e., pg/mL). Such an improvement was first published by Bachas, L.G., Tsalta, C.D., and Meyerhoff, M.E., in Biotechniques 4:42-55 (1986), who describe a B12 enzyme immunoassay which utilizes intrinsic factor attached to beads, with B12-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase as the probe.

Since the Bachas, et al. publication, several abstracts have appeared relating to B12 immunoassays. One of these, Wang, C.-C., Charlton, R.R., "An Enzymometric Assay for Vitamin B12 Using Magnetic Particles as Solid Support," Clin.

Chem. 33:963 (1987), describes an assay which uses B12 coupled to chromium dioxide, intrinsic factor-8-galactosidase and o-nitrophenyl-8-D-galactoside as substrate. In May 1989, a poster was presented by Dworschack, et al. at a CLAS meeting in Los Angeles, pertaining to an assay which employs the CEDIA technology with intrinsic factor as the Bl2-binding protein and B12-enzyme donor (enzyme donor is a genetically engineered fragment of 8-galactosidase used in CEDIA assays) as the labeled analyte.Dworschack, R.T., Rosman, D.B., Shindelman, J.E., Lingenfelter, D.S., and Khanna, P.L., "CEDIA Bl2: A Homogeneous Enzyme-Based Ligand Binding Assay for Serum Vitamin B12, " 15th National Meeting of the Clinical Ligand Assay Society (Los Angeles; May 1989). Also in 1989, Klukas, et al.

presented a chemiluminescent B12 immunoassay, utilizing intrinsic factor bound to magnetic particles and a B12-acridinium ester tracer. Xlukas, C., Williams, M., Berg, M., Kozel, P., and Hudson, T., "A Chemiluminescence Receptor Assay for Vitamin B121,1 Clin. Chem. 35:1194 (1989). In July 1990, Kuemmerle presented another version of a non-isotopic B12 EIA at an AACC meeting in San Francisco. The assay employs intrinsic factor bound to a polymeric microspherical solid phase and a B12 derivative coupled to a reporter enzyme. Kuemmerle, S.C., Boltinghouse, G.L., Delby, S.M., Lane, T.L., Simondsen, R.P., "IMx Assay for Vitamin B12111 Clin. Chem. 36:969 (1990).

Of further possible interest are an International Patent Application published under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, Oh, C.S., et al. (Beckman Instruments, Inc.) WO 89/12826, publication date December 28, 1989; and a published European Patent Application, Hoyle, et al., EP 0378197A2, published October 1, 1990, both for B12 non-isotopic assays.

The Oh document describes a B12 EIA using biotinylated intrinsic factor, avidin-horseradish peroxidase and B12 bound to a solid phase. The Hoyle document contains a B12 EIA using streptavidin bound to a solid phase, biotinylated monoclonal anti-Bl2 and Bl2-horseradish peroxidase.

Also of possible relevance to this invention is an amplification method, recently reported by Self, C.H., EP 0027036B1, October 1988, which amplifies the signal of the labeling enzyme (alkaline phosphatase) approximately 100-fold.

A further document of possible relevance is an investigation of a solid phase system for ELISA assays where streptavidin is bound to a biotinylated protein which in turn is adsorbed onto a microtiter plate, as reported by Suter, M., Butler, J.E., and Peterman, J.H., in "The Immunochemistry of Sandwich ELISAs-III. The Stoichiometry and Efficacy of the Protein-Avidin-Biotin Capture (PABC) System," Molecular Immunol. 26:221-230 (1989).

Among these methods of the prior art, various difficulties and deficiencies have been noted. The "no-boil" pretreatment method of Allen as referred to above, for example, utilizes treatment reagents which have the potential of denaturing and otherwise detrimentally modifying the various enzymes and binding proteins which might be used in the assay.

This will lower the accuracy and reproducilibity of the assay.

Also, the amplification method of Self referred to above has not been applied to B12 assays, since it requires the use of an enzyme-labelled Bl2, which has a much lower binding affinity for proteins than does unlabelled B12. This has interfered with the development of competitive binding assays in particular for B12.

A still further difficulty arises from the fact that the ability of intrinsic factor to bind to B12 involves a conformational change in intrinsic factor, and the ability of intrinsic factor to undergo such a change varies with the operating conditions. For maximum binding activity, the intrinsic factor must be in solution. The present invention addresses these and other disadvantages of prior art methods.

According to one aspect of this invention, the denaturing agents in the no-boil method of vitamin B12 pretreatment are retained in the sample mixture after use, and combined with a treatment agent which deactivates the denaturing agents without itself having a denaturing effect on any proteins or enzymes subsequently added to perform the assay. The assay may thus be performed without removing any of the treatment agents from the reaction mixture. Since the denaturing agents include an inorganic base and a thiol, the treatment agent includes a buffering agent in acid form to lower the pH of the base, and an agent for converting the sulfhydryl groups of the thiol to a non-active form such as disulfides or alkylthio groups. The sulfhydryl group converting agent may therefore be either an oxidizing agent or an alkylating agent.

Another aspect of this invention resides in a protocol for the assay itself, which permits the use of enzymelabeled B12 without suffering a detriment from the lowered protein binding affinity due to the presence of the enzyme or the use of derivatized B12, and which permits the use of intrinsic factor as the binding member with the reaction between 812 and intrinsic factor occurring entirely in the liquid phase. This protocol proceeds as follows: (1) The test sample, once the B12 contained in the sample has been freed of all endogenous binding proteins, is reacted with an excess of biotinylated intrinsic factor to form a complex. This reaction occurs entirely in solution in the liquid phase.

(2) Enzyme-labeled vitamin B12 is then added and the solution is incubated with solid-phase streptavidin. The result of this incubation is that both the complex formed in step (1) and unreacted biotinylated intrinsic factor become immobilized on the solid phase by a streptavidin-biotin interaction, and the immobilized biotinylated intrinsic factor which had not formed a complex with B12 from the test sample binds to enzyme-labeled B12.

At this stage, immobilized species on the solid phase includes the B12 from the sample plus a portion of the enzyme-labeled B12, while an amount of enzyme-labeled B12 remains in solution.

Note that sufficient biotinylated intrinsic factor is used such that most if not all of the sample B12 is consumed in step (1), and that the enzyme-labeled B12 in step (2) consumes the remaining biotinylated intrinsic factor while displacing substantially none of the sample B12 which is already bound.

(3) The solid and liquid phases are then separated, and the level of enzyme activity in either the solid phase or the liquid phase is then determined and related by appropriate calibration curves to the concentration of vitamin B12 in the test sample.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the descriptions which follow.

The figure attached hereto is a plot of a doseresponse curve for vitamin B12 typical of those obtained using the assay of the present invention.

The buffering agent in the treatment mixture used after denaturation of the test sample may be any buffer which can be applied in acid form to lower the pH to an acceptable level for the assay, and which will then maintain the pH at or close to that level during the succeeding assay reactions.

Examples of such buffers are phosphate buffers, borate buffers, acetate buffers, succinate buffers and tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane. Phosphate buffers, particularly sodium or potassium phosphate monobasic, are preferred. The buffer will be selected and adjusted as and if necessary to provide the treated test sample with a pH falling within the range of from about 6.5 to about 8.0, preferably fom about 7.0 to about 7.4.

Amounts and methods of adjusting the pH are well known among those skilled in the art.

Oxidizing agents for deactivating the sulfhydryl group of the thiol will be any such agents which have an oxidizing potential and reaction rate sufficiently high to achieve oxidation of the sulfhydryl groups, yet insufficient to cause by themselves any substantial denaturation of proteins and enzymes such as those to be added in subsequent steps in the assay procedure. Examples of such oxidizing agents are iodate salts, nitrite salts, bromate salts, dithionate salts, and Ellman's reagent. Iodate salts, particularly sodium and potassium iodate, are preferred.

Alkylating agents for deactivating the sulfhydryl group of the thiol will be any such agents capable of converting the sulfhydryl groups to alkylthio groups under the conditions prevailing in the test sample following the denaturing pretreatment. Examples of such agents are iodoacetic acid, methyl maleimide, 2-bromoethylamine, and N-iodosuccinimide.

Optimal concentrations of the buffer and the oxidizing or alkylating agent for use in any particular treatment procedure in accordance with this invention are well within the skill of the experienced technician and readily determinable by routine experimentation.

The pretreatment materials for the no-boil method of protein denaturation, whose administration precedes the administration of the combination of buffer and sulfhydryl deactivating agent, may be constituted and applied according to known methods, in accordance with the Allen patents referenced above, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Typical pretreatment solutions contain an inorganic base such as sodium or potassium hydroxide, and a thiol such as dithiothreitol, B-mercaptoethanol, thioglycolate, thioglycerol or 3-mercaptopropionic acid. The most commonly used are sodium hydroxide and dithiothreitol.Typical pretreatment solutions further contain potassium cyanide to convert all forms of cobalamin to cyanocobalamin, as well as cobinamide, a B12 analog, in the form of dicyanocobinamide, which serves to saturate all R-binder proteins present in the sample, preventing them from renaturing in this and subsequent steps.

The inorganic base and the thiol are generally stored as individual solutions, one containing the base plus potassium cyanide and dicyanocobinamide, and the other containing the thiol and sodium chloride.

While the pretreatment, neutralization and deactivation procedures are described herein primarily in connection with assays for vitamin B12, they are applicable in a similar manner to assays for a wide range of species which tend to bind to endogenous proteins when present in a biological sample. In this aspect of the invention, the species to be detected by the assay is not critical to the invention.

For application of the present invention to assays for vitamin B12, such assays may be performed on any biological fluid sample suspected of containing vitamin B12 and for which the vitamin B12 content is sought to be determined. Such assays is typically performed on human plasma or serum.

A wide variety of enzymes may be used for the enzymelabeled vitamin B12, including any enzyme which can serve as a label in a detection method. Many such enzymes and substrates for their detection are known among those skilled in the art of immunoassays. A preferred enzyme is alkaline phosphatase, and a preferred detection method is the enzyme amplification method of Self, referenced above and incorporated herein by reference.

A typical method involving alkaline phosphatase uses 8-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, reduced form (ss-NADPH) as the substrate. The alkaline phosphatase cleaves the phosphate group to form p-nicotinamide aderfine dinucleotide, reduced form (ss-NADH). This is followed by addition of a color development reagent composed of diaphorase, iodonitrotetrazolium violet (INT), ethanol and alcohol dehydrogenase. Only the cleaved product, ss-NADH, formed during the substrate incubation step can initiate the amplification cycle. The ss-NADH is oxidized to 8-NAD by diaphorase with concomitant reduction of INT to a colored product (measurable at 490nm). To complete the cycle alcohol dehydrogenase simultaneously reduces P-NAD to ss-NADH and oxidizes ethanol to acetaldehyde. The cycle then begins again, and the speed at which the color is generated is dependent upon the amount of ss-NADH originally present.

As stated above, this detection procedure may be performed on either the solid phase or the liquid phase. For solid phase procedures, the solid phase is placed in contact with liquid solutions of the substrate and other detection agents, and color changes observed and quantified in those solutions. For liquid phase procedures, the liquid phase is combined with liquid solutions of the substrate and other detection agents, and color changes observed and quantified in a similar manner.

The solid phase may be of any configuration which is suitable and appropriate for the procedures involved in the assay. Examples are beads, test tubes and microtiter plates.

The formation of the other reagents utilized in the assay is achieved by conventional means reported in the literature. To form an alkaline phosphatase-labeled B12, for example, acid hydrolysis is performed on the propionamide groups on the corrin ring of Bl2. This is followed by reacting B12 monocarboxylic acid with N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) in the presence of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in an anhydrous, aprotic solvent system. This results in the formation of an NHS ester of B12 monocarboxylic acid which is then allowed to react with the amine groups of alkaline phosphatase in aqueous media.

Biotinylated intrinsic factor is likewise prepared by known procedures, one such method involving the use of sulfosuccinimidyl 6-(biotinamido) hexanoate as the biotinylating agent. The concentration of biotinylated intrinsic factor used in the assay may be adjusted to give a dose response curve which has the greatest sensitivity in the diagnostic range expected for the assay. Such an adjustment is well within the skill of the experienced immunoassay technician, and readily determinable by routine experimentation. Intrinsic factor is specific. for B12 and does not cross-react with cobinamide or other B12 analogs.

Immobilization of streptavidin on a solid phase such as a microtiter plate is conveniently achieved by adsorbing a biotinylated carrier protein onto a microtiter plate and then allowing streptavidin to bind to the biotin-protein plate.

An assay kit including all components necessary for the assay will typically include the following: 1. Standards Cyanocobalamin pg/mL range Human Serum Albumin 7% Sodium Chloride 0.9% Sodium Azide 0.1% 2. Enzyme Conjugate Solution B12-Alkal ine Phosphatase Conjugate Triethanolamine hydrochloride 10mM Sodium Azide 0.1% Sodium chloride 0.85% Magnesium Chloride lmM Zinc Sulfate Heptahydrate 0.lmM Human Serum Albumin 1% Polyethyleneglycol 8000 5% Tween 20 0.05% 3. Binding Protein Conjugate Solution Biotin-Intrinsic Factor Conjugate Triethanolamine hydrochloride 10mM Sodium Azide 0.1% Sodium chloride 0.85% Magnesium Chloride lmM Zinc Sulfate Heptahydrate 0. lem Human Serum Albumin 1% Polyethyleneglycol 8000 5% Tween 20 0.05% 4.Neutralizer Potassium Iodate 100mM Potassium Phosphate Monobasic 260mM Monohydrate 5. Pretreatment Solution, Part A Sodium Hydroxide lM Potassium Cyanide 100Sg/mL Dicyanocobinamide lAg/mL 6. Pretreatment Solution, Part B Dithiothreitol 20mg/mL Sodium Chloride 10mM 7. Wash Buffer, pH 7.4 Triethanolamine Hydrochloride 10mM Sodium Chloride 0.88% Tween 20 0.05% Kathon CG 0.06% 8. Pretreatment Microtiter Plates Blank polystyrene microtiter plates 9. Assay Microtiter Plates Polystyrene microtiter plates coated with biotin bovine serum albumin to which streptavidin is attached 10. Lyophilized Substrate 8-Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (reduced form) 11.Substrate Diluent, pH 9.5 Diethanolamine 50mM Ethanol 4% Magnesium Chloride lmM Sodium Azide 0.02% Tween 20 0.1% 12. Lyophilized Amplifier Alcohol Dehydrogenase Diaphorase 13. Amplifier Diluent Sodium Phosphate Monobasic lmN Monohydrate Sodium Azide 0.02% Ethylene Glycol 8% (volume basis) lodonitrotetrazolium Violet 2mM The following examples are offered by way of illustration, and are intended neither to limit nor to define the invention in any manner.

EXAMPLE 1 Biotinylation of Intrinsic Factor A reaction flask was charged with 200 L of 0.5mg/mL intrinsic factor, 166L of deionized water and 50pL of 1M sodium bicarbonate. Separately, a solution was formed by dissolving 5mg of sulfosuccinimidyl 6-(biotinamido)-hexanoate in lmL of deionized water. Immediately after formation of the latter, a portion (56t) of the biotin solution was added to the intrinsic factor solution with stirring. The resulting reaction mixture was allowed to react at 4C for 16 hours.

After this time, a 100pL quantity of a solution containing 1% human serum albumin, 10mM trishydroxymethylaminomethane, 0.85% sodium chloride, and 0.1% sodium azide (10mum TBS/azide), at pH 7.4 was added. The resulting solution was washed six times using a Centricon 30 microconcentrator and 10mM TBS/azide. The wash buffer contained 10mM triethanolamine, 0.88% sodium chloride, 0.05% Tween 20 and 0.06% Kathon CG, pH 7.4. After washing, the solution volume was increased to lmL and an equal volume of conjugate diluent was added.The conjugate diluent contained lOmM triethanolamine, 0.1% sodium azide, 0.85% sodium chloride, lmM magnesium chloride, 0.1mM zinc sulfate heptahydrate, 1% human serum albumin, 5% polyethylene glycol and 0.05% Tween 20, pH 7.4.

EXAMPLE 2 Coupling of B12 to Alkaline Phosphatase Before B12 can be coupled to alkaline phosphatase it must first be derivatized by acid hydrolysis of the propionamide groups of the corrin ring. This was achieved by first adding 600mg of B12 to 12mL of 0.1M hydrochloric acid.

The solution was stirred in the dark at ambient temperature for 72 hours. After this time, the pH was adjusted to 4.0 with 1M sodium hydroxide.

The reaction mixture was then applied to an alumina column, which was then eluted with water. Unhydrolyzed material passed through the column while the mono-, di- and tri-carboxylic acids were retained. The monocarboxylic acid was eluted off with O.1N ammonium hydroxide. The fractions containing the desired mixture of b, d and e isomers of B12-monocarboxylic acid were pooled, concentrated and acidified to pH 4.0. The product was then extracted into 90% phenol.

Ether was added to the phenol extracts. The phenol/ether layer was then extracted with deionized water, with the product residing in the aqueous layer. The combined aqueous extract was washed with ether. The final aqueous layer was lyophilized to give 65mg of a mixture of the b, d and e isomers of the monocarboxylic acid of Bl2.

The N-hydroxysuccinimide active ester of B12 was then formed and reacted with alkaline phosphatase. To accomplish this, B12 monocarboxylic acid (20mg), N-hydroxysuccinimide (22mg) and 1,3 dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (40mg) were dissolved in anhydrous N,N-dimethylformamide (700L). The resulting solution was stirred in the dark at 4'C for 16 hours. The solution was then centrifuged and the pellet discarded.

To 1.27mg of calf intestine alkaline phosphatase, in 5.86mL of O.lM phosphate buffer, O.lN sodium chloride, pH 7.4, was added 140pL (4.69mg) of the supernatant of the solution containing the B12 active ester. The mixture was stirred for 16 hours in the dark at 4'C. After this time the reaction mixture was dialyzed against 50mM Tris, 0.1% sodium azide, O.1M sodium chloride, lmN magnesium chloride and 0.1my zinc chloride, pH 7.6, 0.1% Norit A (charcoal). The conjugate was purified by HPLC using a size exclusion column.

EXAMPLE 3 Preparation of Streptavidin-Coated Microtiter Plates The preparation of streptavidin-coated microtiter plates requires biotinylated carrier protein. For this example the carrier protein was bovine serum albumin (BSA). A solution was prepared by dissolving 100mg of BSA in a mixture of 10mL of 1M sodium bicarbonate and 9mL of deionized water. A biotin solution was then prepared by dissolving 79.5mg of sulfosuccinimidyl 6-(biotinamido) hexanoate lmL of deionized water. Immediately after it was formed, the biotin solution was added to the BSA solution with stirring. The resulting solution was allowed to stand for 16 hours at 4-C, then washed using a Centricon 30 microconcentrator and 10mM phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), 0.18 sodium azide, pH 7.4.

The biotin-BSA solution was diluted to 2.5 ssg/ml using l0mM PBS, pH 7.4. The wells of a microtiter plate were then charged with 100 L/well of this solution, and the plate was incubated overnight at room temperature. The next day the plate was washed with wash buffer. Streptavidin was dissolved in a solution of 1% BSA, l0mM PBS to give a final concentration of 4g/mL. This was followed by the addition of this solution to the wells of the microtiter plate at 100pL/well. The plate was then incubated overnight at room temperature. The next day the plate was washed with wash buffer, and 5% sucrose in 10mM PBS at 100ML/well, pH 7.4, was added.The plate was then incubated overnight at room temperature. The next day the solution was decanted and the plate blotted dry. The plate was stored in a plastic bag with desiccant at 4iC.

EXAMPLE 4 B12 Assay Protocol and Results Into each well of an uncoated microtiter plate was placed 304L of standard, control or sample, followed by 60pL of a 1:1 mixture of pretreatment solution A and pretreatment solution B. These pretreatment solutions were as follows: Pretreatment solution A: 1M sodium hydroxide, 100pg/mL potassium cyanide and lpg/mL dicyanocob inamide Pretreatment solution B: 20mg/mL dithiothreitol and lOmM sodium chloride The plate was then shaken briefly, covered and placed in a 37'C incubator for 20 minutes.Neutralizer solution (150pL), consisting of 100mM potassium iodate and 260mM potassium phosphate monobasic, was then added, followed by 30ZL of binding protein. The plate was then shaken briefly again, covered and placed in a 370C incubator for 30 minutes.

Into each well of a streptavidin/biotin-BSA coated microtiter plate was placed 35pL of the enzyme conjugate using a multichannel pipette, followed by 70pL of the pretreated standard, control or sample. The plate was then shaken briefly, covered and placed in a 37C incubator for 30 minutes.

The plate was then washed and blotted dry, and substrate solution (100pL/well) was added. The plate was again shaken briefly, covered and placed in a 37C incubator for 30 minutes.

Finally, 100 L of amplifier solution was added to each well.

The rate of change in optical density at 490nm was then read on a microtiter plate reader.

The figure attached hereto is a plot of the dose-response curve obtained using this protocol. The vertical axis represents the rate of color development in milli-optical density units per minute, whereas the horizontal axis represents the B12 concentration in picograms per milliliter.

The present application has been divided out of British Patent Application No. 9213503.7 titled "B12 enzyme immunoassay and sample pretreatment" filed 25th June 1992.

Claims (6)

CLAIMS:

1. A process for determining the amount of vitamin B12 in a test sample containing vitamin B12 within a predetermined range of concentrations, said process comprising: (a) dissociating all vitamin B12 in said test sample from any proteins bound thereto; (b) combining said test sample with biotinylated intrinsic factor in a first solution, said biotinylated intrinsic factor being in excess of the maximum of said predetermined range, and incubating said first solution to cause substantially all vitamin B12 therein to combine with biotinylated intrinsic factor to form a complex;; (c) combining said first solution with enzymelabel led vitamin B12 in a second solution in the presence of streptavidin immobilised on a solid phase, said enzyme-labelled vitamin B12 and said streptavidin each being in excess of said biotinylated intrinsic factor of step (b), and incubating said second solution and said streptavidin to cause said complex and biotinylated intrinsic factor free of vitamin B12 in said second solution to become bound to said streptavidin and to cause said biotinylated intrinsic factor free of vitamin B12 in said second solution to become complexed to said enzyme-labelled vitamin B12; (d) separating said solid phase from said second solution; and (e) determining the level of enzyme activity of either said solid phase or said second solution.

2. A process according to claim 1 in which steps (b) and (c) are performed at pH's of from about 7.0 to about 8.0.

3. A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the enzyme of said enzyme-labelled vitamin B12 is alkaline phosphatase.

4. A process according to any preceding claim in which step (a) comprises: (i) combining said test sample with an inorganic base and a thiol and incubating the resulting mixture to cause said inorganic base and said thiol to denature any endogenous binding proteins present in said test sample and to thereby release therefrom all vitamin B12 bound thereto; and (ii) combining the mixture resulting from step (i) with 1) a buffering agent in acid form, and 2) a sulfhydryl group converting agent selected from the group consisting of a) oxidizing agents having an electrochemical potential of a level selected to oxidize any sulfhydryl compounds present in said first mixture to disulfides yet to substantially avoid denaturation of further proteins not already denatured, and b) alkylating agents, to lower the pH of said second mixture to a value within the range of approximately 6.5 to approximately 8.0 and to convert any thiol groups remaining therein to disulfide groups.

5. A process in accordance with claim 1 carried out substantially as hereinbefore described.

6. A diagnostic kit for performing the process of claim 1.