Particle counting immunoassay of choriogonadotropin using monoclonal antibodies

A latex particle immunoassay has been developed for the quantification of choriogonadotropin in human serum using two monoclonal antibodies specific for the beta-chain of the hormone. The assay, based on optical counting of monomeric particles, was achieved in 40 min and the calibration curve was linear between 10 and 200 IU/l. Intra- and interassay precisions at three different levels of the curve varied between 3.3 and 10.9%. The method was validated by comparison with two different radioimmunoassays and correlation coefficients of 0.97-0.99 were obtained.

Monoclonal antibodies for clinical applications. Patents and literature

The use of monoclonal antibodies for clinical applications has increased dramatically in the past few years. Monoclonal antibodies are used for the detection of bacterial and viral infections, determination of the presence and stage of cancer, and as diagnostics for the detection and quantitation of low molecular weight compounds of clinical and biochemical interest. The latter application has also taken place through the development of monoclonal antibody-based sensors. The ease of monoclonal antibody synthesis and their high degree of antigen specificity has made monoclonal antibodies ideal for the aforementioned clinical applications. Recent US patents and scientific literature on clinical applications of monoclonal antibodies are surveyed. Patent abstracts are summarized individually and a list of literature references are given.