Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for leucine and methionine enkephalins

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for enkephalins was developed by coupling the peptides to a carrier molecule (bovine serum albumin) in order to allow the antibody-antigen reaction to take place in the solid phase. The assay was shown to be highly reproducible. Its sensitivity was 14 nmol/liter for leucine enkephalin and 27 nmol/liter for methionine enkephalin, which is similar to that obtained when the same antibodies were used in radioimmunoassay.