Direct radioimmunoassay for the determination of 16-acetyl-gitoxin in serum.

A simple and reliable radioimmunoassay procedure for the specific determination of 16-acetyl-gitoxin, the main cardioactive metabolite of penta-acetyl-gitoxin, in serum is described. Antisera raised against 15-acetyl-gitoxin-bovine serum albumin conjugates proved to be highly specific, thus permitting direct analysis of serum. The assay is capable of detecting 0.4 ng of 16-acetyl-gitoxin. This covers the therapeutic and toxic range when 0.1 ml serum is analyzed. A single worker can assay about 100 serum samples per day in triplicate.