Branched Chain Amino Acid (Leu/Ile/Val) Colorimetric Assay Kit

The branched-chain amino acids or BCAA’s, refer to the amino acids with non-linear aliphatic side-chains, namely leucine, isoleucine and valine. These three essential amino acids make up approximately 1/3 of skeletal muscle in the human body. BCAA’s are currently used clinically to aid in the recovery of burn victims, as well as for strength supplementation for athletes. BCAA’s, primarily Leu, can stimulate insulin secretion. The BCAA’s have also been implicated in a wide range of other physiological effects. BioVision's BCAA Assay Kit provides a simple convenient means of measuring the BCAA’s in a variety of biological samples. The kit utilizes an enzyme assay in which BCAA is oxidatively deaminated, producing NADH which reduces the probe, generating a colored product (λmax = 450 nm). BioVision’s BCAA kit measures BCAA’s in the range of 0 to 10 nmol per sample with a detection limit of ~0.2 nmol (~10 µM BCAA in sample). BCAA’s are present in serum ~ 0.1-0.4 mM each (~0.125-1.5 mM combined).