Analytical Sciences


Abstract − Analytical Sciences, 23(5), 593 (2007).

Development of an Egg-white Bioassay for Monitoring Biotin Levels in Urine and Serum
Sotirios ZAROGIANNIS,*1 Vassilios LIAKOPOULOS,*2 Chrissi HATZOGLOU,*1 Konstantinos VOGIATZIDIS,*1 Marios SALMAS,*2 Ioannis STEFANIDIS,*2 Konstantinos GOURGOULIANIS,*3 Paschalis Adam MOLYVDAS,*1 and Spiros LAFIS*4
*1 Department of Physiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, 22 Papakyriazi Street, 41222 Larissa, Greece
*2 Department of Nephrology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, 22 Papakyriazi Street, 41222 Larissa, Greece
*3 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Medical School, University of Thessaly, 22 Papakyriazi Street, 41222 Larissa, Greece
*4 Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, 26 Ploutonos & Aiolou Street, 41221 Larissa, Greece
This article reports on the development of a simple and cost-effective bioassay for the detection of biotin in urine and serum, based on the very selective binding of avidin and biotin. Avidin was allowed to react without isolating it from egg white. Egg white was treated with the dye HABA, which binds to avidin. Upon subsequent treatment with biotin, HABA is released due to the high affinity of biotin to avidin. The amount of HABA released is proportional to the amount of biotin used.