Thymidine Analog for Treatment of Patients With AIDS

D4T is a thymidine analog used in the treatment of patients with aquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The radioimmunoassay is a double antibody competitive binding assay utilizing anti-D4T antiserum developed in rabbit as primary antibody, a tritiated derivative of D4T as radioactive tracer, and goat anti-rabbit IgG as secondary antibody. Following a 30-min incubation period, the tubes are centrifuged to separate the bound from the unbound tracer. The unbound tracer which remains in the supernatant is removed by vacuum aspiration. The pellets containing the bound tracer are resolved in a solution of hydrochloric acid (HCl). Portions of the resulting solution are then transferred into counting vials. After the addition of scintillation liquid, the vials are counted. The counts obtained are inversely proportional to the amount of D4T present in each sample. This procedure allows the determination of as little as 0.5ng of D4T per assay tube.

Moravek Biochemicals, Inc., 577 Mercury Lane, Brea, CA 92821-4890. Tel: 800-447-0100; Fax: 714-990-1824.