Cholesterol/ Cholesteryl Ester Assay Kit ab65359 provides a simple method for sensitive quantification of total cholesterol, free cholesterol, and cholesteryl esters, by colorimetric or fluorometric methods.
The majority of cholesterol in blood is in the form of cholesteryl esters. In the cholesterol assay protocol, these are hydrolyzed to cholesterol by cholesterol esterase. Cholesterol is then oxidized by cholesterol oxidase to yield H2O2 which reacts with a sensitive cholesterol probe to produce color (λmax = 570 nm) and fluorescence (Ex/Em = 535/587 nm).
The assay detects total cholesterol (cholesterol and cholesteryl esters) when cholesterol esterase is included in the reaction, or free cholesterol when it is not included. The amount of cholesteryl ester can be determined by subtracting the value of free cholesterol from the total (cholesterol plus cholesteryl esters).
Cholesterol assay protocol summary:
- add samples and standards to wells
- add total cholesterol reaction mix (with esterase) or free cholesterol reaction mix (without esterase) and incubate for 60 min at 37ºC
- analyze with microplate reader