[Assessment of DNAse activity by the rivanol clot method]

A method for assessing DNAse activity in various biological substrata is offered. It is based on the capacity of rivanol to form a clot with DNA inversely proportionate to depolymeraization of DNAse under the effect of nucleases of different origin. The sensitivity of the method is more than 10 times higher than of viscosimetry and the alcohol clot formation test. In addition, the new method permits quantitative assessment of the clot, with the detection performed by any colorimetric or fluorimetric method. The method is adapted to measurement of the activities of commercial DNAse preparations, serum and immunoglobulin DNAse, and bacterial nuclease activities.