Assessment of myoglobin in human serum and urine by original RIA method

A radioimmunoassay was developed for the determination of myoglobin in human serum and in urine using myoglobin and sheep antiserum prepared in the laboratory. The time course was examined of serum myoglobin values for 12 patients with suspect acute myocardial infarction as were basal serum myoglobin values for 9 control subjects. The average myoglobin value for healthy subjects was 15.0±4.43 μg.l-1. In all patients with confirmed acute myocardial infarction, a significant reversible myoglobin increase was observed in the serum at an interval of 4 to 30 hours from the onset of heart pain; the maximum values of myoglobin in some patients exceeded the upper limit of the calibration curve. The results show that the original RIA method is well aplicable in the differential diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in the first hours of the development of the condition and can replace myoglobin RIA kits imported so far. (author). 3 figs., 25 refs