Assay methods for detecting serum proteases, particularly activated protein C

摘要

The invention describes diagnostic methods and compositions for determining the amount of protease in a body fluid sample. In particular, the invention detects proteases by a method in which both a reversible inhibitor of the protease and an irreversible inhibitor of interfering proteases during the detection step are employed to increase the sensitivity of the enzyme capture assay. The assay detects normal serum levels of activated protein C.