Time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay of pancreatic phospholipase A2

We have developed an immunoassay for human pancreatic secretory phospholipase A2 based on time-resolved fluorescence. The labeled antibody technique in combination with the time-resolved fluorometric detection of the Europium label, which essentially eliminates all background fluorescence, resulted in a high sensitivity and a wide linear range. Our assay is a one-incubation, multi-site, solid-phase assay on polystyrene microtiter strips, even though a polyclonal antibody was used. Increased levels of immunoreactive phospholipase A2 are found by this assay in sera of patients suffering from acute pancreatitis.