Thermo Scientific™ Porphyrin Reagent

Description

• Determine the X factor (hemin) requirement for Haemophilus spp
• using Thermo Scientific™ Remel™ Porphyrin Reagent
• Biberstein et al
• studied the action of Haemophilus strains with δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and found a correlation between the absence of hemin requirement (X factor) and the ability to convert ALA to protoporphyrin 1
• White and Granick found certain species of Haemophilus lack the enzyme to convert ALA to protoporphyrin, and are therefore X-dependent 2
• Kilian developed a rapid test for demonstrating porphyrin synthesis using ALA as the substrate 3
• While Haemophilus bacteria are typically small coccobacilli, they are categorized as pleomorphic bacteria because of the wide range of shapes they occasionally assume
• These organisms inhabit the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract, mouth, vagina, and intestinal tract 5
• The genus includes commensal organisms along with some significant pathogenic species such as H
• influenzae —a cause of sepsis and bacterial meningitis in young children 6
• The test for hemin requirement is a single substrate biochemical test
• The substrate used is a combination of δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a hemin precursor, and magnesium in a phosphate buffer
• Hemin-independent Haemophilus spp
• can utilize δ-aminolevulinic acid in the biosynthesis of hemin
• Hemin-dependent Haemophilus spp
• are enzymatically incapable of completing this biosynthesis and therefore, will not convert the ALA substrate 1-4
• Ready-to-use – Liquid reagent Easy to interpret – Red-pink fluorescence indicates a positive test (Not X factor dependent) whereas no red-pink fluorescence indicates a negative test (X factor dependent) This reagent contains 5-aminolevulinic acid and magnesium sulfate in a phosphate buffer and is supplied as 5mL vials
• Determination of X factor requirement is accomplished by detection of porphyrin synthesis from ALA as indicated by a red-pink fluorescence under long-wave (360 nm) ultraviolet light (Wood’s Lamp)
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• Remel™ and Oxoid™ products are now part of the Thermo Scientific brand.