Anti-carbohydrate antibodies preparation

With the advent of affinity chromatography to isolate enzymes [7] it was possible to adapt the method for the isolation of antibodies [8], The purification of many types of anti-carbohydrate antibodies with specificity for carbohydrate residues of macromolecules has been achieved. The antibodies were isolated by affinity chromatography on adsorbents with proper ligands. The immunodeterminants of the antigens have been found to be mono- or disaccharide residues of the antigen. The anti-carbohydrate antibodies with unique properties are useful in a variety of medicinal and technological applications. In this article the emphasis is on polyclonal antibodies specifically the preparation, properties and uses of anti-carbohydrate antibodies. 

Three forms of purified FSH are available. Urofollitropin, also known as uFSH, is a purified preparation of human FSH that is extracted from the urine of postmenopausal women. Virtually all the LH activity has been removed through a form of immunoaffinity chromatography that uses anti-hCG antibodies. Two recombinant forms of FSH (rFSH) are also available follitropin alfa and follitropin beta. The amino acid sequences of these two products are identical to that of human FSH. They differ from each other and urofollitropin in the composition of the carbohydrate side chains. The rFSH preparations have a shorter half-life than preparations derived from human urine but stimulate estrogen secretion at least as efficiently and, in some studies, more efficiently. The rFSH preparations are considerably more expensive. 

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