Immunoassay of enzymes--an overview

Immunochemical techniques with enzymes as the antigen have grown in frequency during the last few years. These techniques have allowed evaluation of enzymes in the presence of endogenous inhibitors. Among those enzymes measured by immunochemical techniques and which have found diagnostic application, mention will be made of alkaline phosphatase (with particular reference to the intestinal, placental, and Regan isoenzymes), lactate dehydrogenase (in which renewed interest has developed due to techniques for specifically measuring the LD-1 isoenzyme), aspartate aminotransferase (of which the cytosolic and mitochondrial forms can now be independently measured by immunochemical techniques), acid phosphatase (for which a specific immunochemical assay for the prostatic enzyme has been widely introduced in diagnostic laboratories), and creatine kinase (for which a variety of immunochemical techniques to measure the M- and B-subunits are now part of standard laboratory assays). Other enzymes which will be discussed in this review include phosphohexose isomerase, amylase, ribonuclease, and lysozyme (muramidase). Finally, the use of enzymes, particularly asparaginase, in the chemotherapy of cancer will be outlined.