Homocysteine assay

摘要

This invention pertains to methods of determining the presence and/or quantity of homocysteine in a sample containing other thiol-containing compounds. The methods of this invention involve modifying the homocysteine to facilitate the separation of homocysteine from cysteine. An assay protocol comprises adjusting the conditions of the sample suspected of containing homocysteine so that homocysteine forms homocysteine thiolactone, separating the homocysteine thiolactone from free thiol-containing compounds present in the sample, including cysteine, reconverting the homocysteine thiolactone to homocysteine, and determining the presence and/or quantity of homocysteine in the sample by conventional means.