Modified method for determination of serum beta-glucuronidase: A comparative study using P-nitrophenyl glucuronide and phenolphthalein glucuronide as substrate in gastrointestinal tract carcinomas

Abstract

Serum beta-glucuronidase activity was estimated by our modified method using two substrates phenolphthalein glucuronide and p-nitrophenyl glucoronide in 49 healthy subjects and 94 patients with gastrointestinal tract (GIT) carcinoma. The correlation coefficient using the two substrates was found to be r=0.8383. The method of Gabor Szasz was modified wherein the incubation time was decreased from 5 hours to 2 hours and the incubation temperature was increased from 25°C to 37°C. The increase in beta-glucuronidase activity in GIT carcinoma appears to be a good biochemical marker in patients with such type of carcinomas, a finding not reported in literature to-date.The modified quantitative method used for estimation of beta-glucuronidase is reliable, accurate, simple and rapid.