| 摘要 |
The present invention relates to an in vitro diagnostic method for the determination of specific dopamine-.beta.-hydroxylase activity for the evaluation of the sympathetic nervous system function of a patient from a serum sample; which comprises the steps of: a) filtering the serum sample to substantially remove drugs and endogenous inhibitors of dopamine-.beta.-hydroxylase; b) incubating the filtered sample of step a) with a substrate of dopamine-.beta.-hydroxylase for conversion in a detectable compound; c) determining the amount of detectable compound to evaluate dopamine-.beta.-hydroxylase activity and comparing with a normal sample; whereby an amount lower than a normal sample is indicative of a reduced sympathetic nervous system function and an amount higher than a normal sample is indicative of an increased sympathetic nervous system function. A reduction in the sympathetic nervous system function is indicative of neurodegenerative, neuroendocrine, psycho-affective and cardiovascular diseases, burn-out, and chronic fatigue, and the effects of stress such as panic syndrome. An increase in the sympathetic nervous system function is indicative of the effects of stress.
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