Patent ID: 6406858
Filing Date: 2002-06-18
Classification: G01N,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
In a method for determining an analyte in a sample of biological fluid which comprises forming a mixture by contacting the sample with at least two immunoreactants which specifically bind with the analyte; one of said immunoreactants is conjugated to an enzyme, said conjugate comprising several or multiple molecules of said immunoreactant and several or multiple molecules of said enzyme, the improvement comprising:a) further combining the above mixture with a crosslinked scavenger conjugate which functions to reduce interfering substances which may be present in the sample, the scavenger conjugate comprising a polymeric conjugate of an enzyme and a water soluble molecule selected from the group consisting of a water soluble protein which is different from the above immunoreactants, a non-proteinaceous natural polymer, a non-proteinaceous natural oligomer, a non-proteinaceous semi-synthetic polymer, and a non-proteinaceous semi-synthetic oligomer, wherein the enzyme used in the cross-linked scavenger conjugate is the same as the enzyme conjugated to the immunoreactant; b) detecting any complexes formed between the immunoreactants and the analyte; and c) correlating any detected complexes with the presence of analyte in the sample.