Thermo Kit Barb Serum Tox

Specifications

Description: Serum Toxicology Barbiturate

Detectable Analytes: Barbiturate in serum

Quantity: 25, 8mL

Storage Requirements: 2° to 8°C

Intended Use

The DRI® Barbiturate Serum Tox Assay is intended for the qualitative and semiquantitative determination of barbiturates in human serum or plasma, using a 1 µg/mL cutoff calibrator.

Summary and Explanation of the Test

Various barbiturates, such as secobarbital (short-acting) and phenobarbital (long-acting), are subject to abuse. Barbiturate abuse can lead to respiratory depression or coma in severe cases. Therapeutic serum concentration and toxic level for each barbiturate are different. In addition, patients who have used barbiturates habitually, particularly those who are addicted to such agents, may tolerate far larger dosages than persons who are not habitual users. Because of the wide variations in individual tolerance and variation in toxic levels associated with each barbiturate, serum tox immunoassays are useful primarily to establish the presence of the agent. An alternate chemical method should be used to determine the identity and exact concentration of the specific barbiturate. Being able to determine the type of barbiturate ingested will facilitate an effective course of treatment for barbiturate intoxication. Although the detection of barbiturates in urine can be used as an |indication of barbiturates usage, Barbiturate Serum Tox assay is critical in emergency situations where a urine sample may be difficult to obtain.

Many conventional techniques, such as TLC, GC, GLC and HPLC, are available for testing abused drugs in biological fluids. Immunoassays, based on the specific recognition of antigen (abused drugs) by the corresponding antibody, are available for high volume screening applications. DRI Barbiturate Serum Tox Assay is a homogeneous enzyme immunoassay using ready-to-use liquid reagents. The assay uses specific antibodies which can detect most barbiturates in serum. It is based on the competition of an enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) labeled drug with drug from the sample for a fixed amount of specific antibody binding sites. In the absence of drug from the sample, the drug labeled G6PDH is bound by the antibody and the enzyme activity is inhibited. In the presence of drug from the sample, the drug occupies the antibody binding sites, and leaves the drug labeled G6PDH free and active. This phenomenon creates a direct relationship between the drug concentration in the sample and the enzyme activity. The enzyme activity is determined spectrophotometrically at 340 nm by measuring its ability to convert NAD to NADH.