An Approach to Better Estimation of the Initial Velocity of Enzyme Reactions.

A new algorithm for computation of the initial velocity of enzyme reaction at the time zero is proposed. This algorithm makes it possible to reduce the systematic error of measurements to the minimum, to estimate the reaction velocity in test samples regardless of the enzyme activity levels, and to minimize the assay time. The study is illustrated by an example of salivary alpha-amylase and standard reagent kit. The algorithm should not be applied if conjugated enzyme systems are used because there is a long initial lag phase in the kinetic curve.