Enzymatic assay for glycerol and triglycerides and a reagent for use therein

Abstract

An assay which is capable of determining the endogenous glycerol and endogenous triglycerides content of a sample without the necessity of performing a separate glycerol assay. The assay of the instant invention can be performed in a single cuvette and is made possible by the use of a novel reagent kit. The reagent kit is of the type comprising lipase; glycerol kinase; adenosine triphosphate; and at least one reagent capable of being used to assay glycerol-1-phosphate or adenosine diphosphate. This reagent kit is characterized in that the lipase employed therein is from Staphylococcus epidermidis NRRL B-12072. In the absence of an auxiliary agent, this lipase does not cleave triglycerides to glycerol. Accordingly, the reagent kit further comprises, as the auxiliary agent, a surfactant which is capable of activating the lipase. Because these surfactants do not absorb at either 340 or 520 nm, one can determine a sample's endogenous glycerol content and endogenous triglycerides content in a single cuvette.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.