Barbiturate Assay Reagents

Abstract

Pentobarbital [human] serum concentrations associated with a high-dose therapeutic regimen were determined using EMIT immunoassay reagents. Replicate analyses of serum controls resulted in a within-assay coefficient of variation of 5.0% and a between-assay coefficient of variation of 10%. Regression analysis of 44 serum samples analyzed by this technique (y) and a reference procedure (x) were y = 0.98x + 3.6 (r = 0.98; x = UV spectroscopy) and y = 1.04x + 2.4 (r = 0.96; x = high-performance liquid chromatography). Clinical evaluation of the results indicates that the immunoassay is sufficiently sensitive and selective for pentobarbital to allow accurate quantitation within the therapeutic range associated with high-dose therapy.