Microbiological assays Assay standards

In all microbiological assays a standard curve is obtained in which the growth response of the organisms to the standard substance is plotted against its concentration. It is essential that a new standard curve should be obtained for each fresh assay. The sample is also assayed at several different concentration levels, the concentrations of the test substance being so adjusted that the amount of growth at each level falls upon the standard curve. 

The procedure employed for the establishment of the chemical reference substances used in these assays has been previously published (Sandrin et al. 1997). The CRSs for the microbiological assays of antibiotics are first submitted to the chemical tests of the monograph. If the results are satisfactory, a collaborative microbiological assay is carried out, using the International Standard as calibrator. Thus, these reference substances are considered to be secondary reference substances since they are calibrated against existing standards. Potency is expressed in International Units. If an International Standard does not exist, European Pharmacopoeia Units are used. 

Fig. 5-9 Decision tree used to accept or reject results from collaborative trials to establish the potencies of antibiotics to be used as chemical reference substances for microbiological assay standards.

Microbiological assay should stress accuracy over precision. Standardization of an assay method should include comparisons with at least one other organism having a different nutritional pattern and specificity toward the compound being assayed. Such a comparison was made for cyanocobalamin (vitamin Bi2 ) content of human blood and serum, using four microorganisms differing in their cobamide requirements and metabolism (B9). 

It is an essential condition of biological assay methods that the tests on the standard preparation and on the sample whose potency is being determined should be carried out at the same time and, in all other respects, under strictly comparable conditions. The validation of microbiological assay method includes performance criteria (analytical parameters) such as linearity, range, accuracy, precision, specificity, etc. 

Deficiencies of folic acid and vitamin B1 are relatively common. Whenever macrocytic anemia is present, evaluation of these two vitamins is necessary 10 determine the cause of the condition, The standard method of measuring folic acid has been the microbiological assay (Bailey et al.. 19821. which can be used to measure folic acid in serum, blood, tissues, and foods. Improved high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods have... 

Three recent reviews specifically cover HPLC methods for quantitating riboflavin in foods. In addition to HPLC methods, Nielsen (81) summarized paper chromatography, TLC, and open-column chromatography procedures for quantitating total riboflavin and the individual vitamers in foods, pharmaceuticals, and biological samples. Russell (44) included a brief discussion of the standard methods, along with HPLC and flow injection analyses published between 1990 and 1994 for total riboflavin and the individual vitamers in foods. Ball (45) reviewed HPLC methods for quantitation of riboflavin, as well as chemical and microbiological riboflavin assays for foods. 

The principle of microbiological assay is simple. For instance, in order to determine, say, phenylalanine, one selects a microorganism that needs phenylalanine. In a medium which contains an abundance of all other nutrients, the extent of bacterial growth will be determined by the amount of phenylalanine added to the medium. The analyst will set up a series of tubes, standards and unknowns, and after inoculation put them in the incubator. After a specified period—overnight or several... 

Waxman, Schreiber, and Herbert first described a radioisotopic assay for the measurement of serum folate in 1971 (W14) which they claimed gave almost identical results to those obtained by with the L. casei microbiological assay and could separate low, borderline, and normal folate levels. Serum was mixed with PHjmethyltetrahydrofolic acid in a phosphate buffer and a folate binder was added which, in this case, was Carnation brand instant powdered milk. Following incubation, free vitamin was separated from that which was bound using hemoglobin-coated charcoal. The radioactivity of the supernatant was determined, and from this the folate concentration in the serum sample could be calculated using appropriate standards and blanks. 

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