Determination of prostatic fluid citrate concentration using peroxidase-like activity of a peroxotitanium complex

There have been developed many kinds of methods for detecting citrate in body fluids since citrate is very important physiologically and biochemically. In particular, determination of citrate concentration in prostatic or seminal fluid is useful in early diagnosis of prostate cancer. Recently, a peroxotitanium complex prepared from titanium tetrachloride and hydrogen peroxide has been shown to have peroxidase-like activity which is greatly inhibited by some hydroxyalkanoic acids. Hence, we established a method for determining citrate concentration in prostatic fluid using selective inhibition of citrate on the catalytic activity of the peroxotitanium complex.