Piero Fossati

Chromogenic system for measuring hydrogen peroxide: the enzymatic uric acid assay.

Featured Article: Fossati P, Prencipe L, Berti G. Use of 3,5-dichloro-2-hydroxybenzenesulfonic acid/4-aminophenazone chromogenic system in direct enzymic assay of uric acid in serum and urine. Clin Chem 1980;26:227–31.1 Our 1980 report in Clinical Chemistry described an improved chromogenic detection system that, coupled with the enzyme oxidation of uric acid, led to a direct method for assaying uric acid in biological fluids. The system assay was reliable, simple, rapid, and suitable for either manual or automated procedures. The work was developed in the context of the Sera-Pak line of clinical chemistry reagents at Miles Italiana SpA’s Ames research and development laboratories. This line of reagents was marketed in 58 countries throughout the world. Before our investigation, chemical and enzymatic methods for uric acid assay had been described, but these assays had practical disadvantages: lack of direct assay in a small sample with a single reagent, need for a serum blank, long incubation times, and false negatives …