Table 3.
Various methods for sialic acid detection
| Method | Example | Advantages | Disadvantages | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biochemical assay | Resorcinol assay | Assays bound and free SA | Considerable interferences by pentoses, hexoses, and uronic acids | [116] |
| Periodate–thiobarbituric acid assay | Assays free SA | Considerable interferences by 2-deoxyribose, unsaturated fatty acids, lactose, and maltose Bound SA not detected | [117] | |
| Roboz assay | Assays bound and free SA Eliminates interferences such as deoxyribose, fatty acids, and some neutral carbohydrates |
Slight turbidity in the assay solution | [118] | |
| Periodic acid/MBTH | Assays total SA without release sialic acids by acid hydrolysis or neuraminidase treatment, | Considerable interferences | [119, 120] | |
| Acidic ninhydrin assay | Assays bound and free SA | Considerable interferences | [121, 122] | |
| Enzymatic and fluorometric assay | Measurement total | [123] | ||
| Neu5Ac | ||||
| Simple and convenient | ||||
| No significant cross-reactivity or interference | ||||
| Enzymatic and calorimetric assay | Measurement total | [123,124,125] | ||
| Neu5Ac | ||||
| Simple and convenient | ||||
| No significant cross-reactivity or interference | ||||
| HPLC fluorescent detection | High specificity | Expensive, research use only | [125] | |
| ELISA and calorimetric assay | High specificity | Research use only | [56] | |
SA, sialic acid; MBTH, 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolone hydrazone assay, HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbentassay.