Biochemical method - the main method in biochemistry from the main methods for diagnosing various diseases that cause metabolic disorders. It is this method of analysis that will be discussed in this article.
Diagnostic objects
The objects of biochemical analysis diagnostics are:
- blood;
- urine;
- sweat and other bodily fluids;
- fabrics;
- cells.
The biochemical research method allows to determine the activity of enzymes, the content of metabolic products in various biological fluids, as well as to identify metabolic disorders that are caused by a hereditary factor.
History
The biochemical method was discovered by the English doctor A. Garrod at the beginning of the 20th century. He studied alkaptonuria, and in the course of his study, he found that innate metabolism or a metabolic disease can be identified by the absence of specific enzymes.
Various hereditary diseases are caused by mutations in genes that change the structure and rate of synthesisproteins in the body. At the same time, carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism is disturbed.
Basic
For the purpose of clinical diagnostics, the chemical composition of biological materials and tissues is studied, since in pathology changes in concentration, the absence of components, or vice versa, the appearance of any other component may occur. Biochemical analysis determines the amount of certain substances, hormonal balance, enzymes.
Molecules, proteins, nucleic acids and other substances that make up a living organism are being studied.
Results
The result of a biochemical research method can be divided into qualitative (detected or not detected) and quantitative (what is the content of a particular substance in the biomaterial).
The qualitative research method uses properties characteristic of the substance used, which appear under certain chemical influences (when heated, when reagents are added).
Direct quantitative test method is determined on the basis of the same principle, but first determine the detection of any substance, and then measure its concentration.
Hormones, mediators are contained in the body in very small quantities, so their content is measured using biological test objects (for example, a separate organ or a whole experimental animal). This increases the sensitivity and specificity of studies.
Historicalevolution
The biochemical method is being improved in order to obtain the most accurate result and information about the state of metabolic processes in the body, metabolic processes in certain organs and cells. Recently, biological diagnostic methods have been combined with other research methods, such as immune, histological, cytological, and others. For more complex method or methods, special equipment is usually used.
There is another direction of the biochemical method, which is not called by the request of clinical diagnostics. By developing and applying a fast and maximally simplified method that can allow you to determine the assessment of the desired biochemical parameters in a few minutes.
Today, laboratories are equipped with the latest advanced equipment and mechanical and automatic systems and devices (analyzers) that allow you to quickly and accurately determine the desired indicator.
Biochemical method of study: methods
Measurement of any substance in biological fluids and their determination is carried out in many different ways. For example, to determine such an indicator as cholesterol esterase, you can use hundreds of options for biochemical research methods. The choice of a specific technique largely depends on the nature of the biological fluids being studied.
The biochemical research method is used to determine one substance or indicator both once and in dynamics. This indicator is checked fora certain time of day, under a certain load, in the course of a disease, while taking any drugs.
Features of the method
Features of the biochemical method:
- minimum amount of biomaterial used;
- analysis speed;
- possible repeated use of this method;
- accuracy;
- biochemical method can be used in the process of illness;
- drugs do not affect test results.
Biochemical methods of genetics
In genetics, the cytogenetic method of research is most often used. It allows you to study in detail the chromosomal structures and their karyotype. Using this method, it is possible to identify hereditary and monogenic diseases that are associated with mutations and polymorphisms of genes and their structures.
The biochemical method of genetics is now widely used to find new forms of mutant alleles in DNA. Using this method, more than 1000 variants of metabolic diseases have been identified and described. Most of the diseases described are diseases that are associated with defects in enzymes and other structural proteins.
Diagnosis of metabolic disorders by biochemical methods is carried out in two stages.
First stage:
Selection of presumptive cases in progress
Second stage:
clarifies the diagnosis of the disease with a more accurate and complex technique
Newborn children in the prenatal period using the biochemical research method arediagnosis of hereditary diseases, which allows timely detection of pathology and timely treatment.
Types of method
The biochemical method of genetics can have many types. All of them are divided into two groups:
- Biochemical methods based on the identification of certain biochemical products. This is due to changes in the actions of various alleles.
- A method that relies on direct detection of altered nucleic acids and proteins using gel electrophoresis in combination with other techniques such as blot hybridization, autoradiography.
Biochemical method helps to identify heterozygous carriers of various diseases. Mutation processes in the human body lead to the appearance of alleles and to chromosomal rearrangements that adversely affect human he alth.
Also, biochemical diagnostic methods allow us to identify various polymorphisms and mutations of genes. The improvement of the biochemical method and biochemical diagnostics in our time helps to identify and confirm a large number of various metabolic disorders of the body.
The article considered the biochemical method of analysis.
