PRETREATMENT REAGENTS AND METHODS USING THE SAME

摘要

Compositions and kits are disclosed for pretreating samples that are to be analyzed for the presence and/or amount of an associated analyte. The composition comprises a lower alkyl alcohol in an amount of about 30 % to about 40 % by volume, a glycol in an amount of about 20 % to about 40 % by volume, and an aqueous component comprising about 20 mM to about 30 mM copper salt. Additionally, the aqueous component can comprise about 0.5 mM to about 20 mM of a buffer, and about 0.005 % to about 0.2 % by weight of a non-ionic detergent and has a pH of about 2.0 to about 4.6. The kits further include one or more reagents for conducting an assay for the associated analyte. Also disclosed are improvements in assays for associated analytes wherein the improvements comprise pretreating a sample suspected of containing the associated analyte with the above composition.