[Detection of N-acetyl-beta-D-hexosaminidase in urine]

A new modification was designed to determine the activity of N-acetyl-beta-D-hexosaminidase (NAH) in biological fluids. The properties of enzyme molecules to adsorb themselves on chitin at pH 4.5 were made use of within the case study. The mean NAH activity, in urine of virtually healthy children and adults, was shown to be equal, within a span time of 1 h, to 12.8 and 22.3 mumole of formed 4-nitrophenol/per 1 mmole of creatinine. The above mean NAH parameter was, in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women, 696 nmole of 4-nitrophenol/per 1 ml in 1 h. The NAH activity was studied in renal pathologies and in delayed intrauterine development of the fetus.