Development of a 96-well based assay for kinetic determination of catalase enzymatic-activity in biological samples

Oxidative stress biomarkers are powerful endpoints in toxicological research. Cellular reductive/oxidative balance affects numerous signaling pathways involving H₂O₂. Detoxification and control of H₂O₂ levels results mainly from catalase activity. The aim of this work was to develop a precise, simple, cost-effective microassay to measure catalase activity in small tissue samples and cell extracts. We developed a protocol that quantifies H₂O₂ decomposition by intrinsic catalase in biological samples. Catalase activity was calculated based on rate of decomposition of H₂O₂, following absorbance at 240 nm. We developed a multi-well spectroscopic approach, reducing sample quantity requirements and allowing simultaneous assessment of large number of samples. The protocol is sensitive across a wide range of catalase activity (11.5–7575 U). The assay presents a 95% confidence interval with an intra-assay coefficient of variation of 3.7%, an inter-assay coefficient of variation of 6.2% and good correlation with a commercial kit. The assay was established and validated for different biological samples, including sheep hepatic tissue and human tumor and non-tumor cell lines. This high-throughput method is robust, sensitive, time-saving and cost-effective, generating highly reproducible results with precision and good correlation with a commercial kit reinforcing the method's validity for research and toxicological applications.