Isoelectric focusing of alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes in polyacrylamide gels. Use of Triton X-100 and improved staining technic

The examination of alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes by means of isoelectric focusing in polyacrylamide gel rods using the apparatus and focusing method of Righetti and Drysdale is discussed. A simultaneous coupling procedure using alpha-naphthyl phosphate and fast blue salt R in 2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol buffer, pH 9.68, containing MgCl2 and ZnSO4 proved sensitive for developing the enzyme bands. Also discussed are the effects seen with the incorporation of Triton X100 into the gel and sample mixtures. Enzyme, which remained at the top of the gel without using this detergent, entered the gel easily with the addition of Triton X-100 into the application solution. Incorporation of Triton into the gel matrix resulted in some enzyme band patterns that showed distinct differences from gels containing no Triton.     

Assessment of a method for measuring serum thyroxine by radioimmunoassay, with use of polyethylene glycol precipitation

We assessed the efficacy of a new thyroxine radioimmunoassay kit (Abott) in which polyethylene glycol is used to separate bound from free hormone. Mean serum thyroxine was 88 +/- 15 (+/-SD) microgram/liter for 96 normal persons. Results for hypothyroid and hyperthyroid persons were clearly separated from those for normal individuals. Women taking oral contraceptive preparations showed variable increases in their serum thyroxine values. The coefficient of variation ranged from 1 to 3% within assay and from 5.4 to 11% among different assays. Excellent parallelism was demonstrated between thyroxine values estimated by this method and those obtained either by competitive protein binding or by a separate radioimmunoassay for the hormone.