Measurement of three aminoglycosiee antibiotics with a single radioimmunoassay system

A versatile radioimmunoassay procedure has been developed to specifically assay gentamicin, tobramycin, or amikacin. Iodinated derivatives of these three antibiotics were prepared by a modified Bolton and Hunter procedure. A single reagent system composed of a pool of three very specific antisera was used in the procedure. The antisera combination did not alter the specificity of the procedure. Validation of the assay of the three antibiotics included studies of parallelism, accuracy, precision, reproducibility, and method comparison with other radioimmunoassay procedures involving single antiserum systems. We discuss the application of this multiple assay capability to other procedures involving use of immunochemicals.