A new immunochemical assay for biotin.

A double antibody technique has been developed to separate free biotin from bound biotin after competitive binding of [3H]biotin and unlabelled biotin to avidin. Antiavidin goat antibody was added followed by the addition of antigoat IgG antibody linked to agarose. Centrifugation separated the free biotin from the biotin bound to the avidin complex. The method was suitable for the detection of the amounts of biotin contained in 100-200 microliters of plasma or 5-10 microliters of urine. Normal values for the concentration of biotin in plasma and urine determined by this assay were 1.27 +/- 0.67 nmol/l and 49.1 +/- 35.7 mumol/mol creatinine, respectively.