Immunoassay Detects Follicle-Stimulating Hormone in Serum

A noncompetitive immunoassay based on capillary electrophoresis (CE) with chemiluminescence (CL) detection has been developed for the determination of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in human serum.

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is a hormone found in humans and other animals. It is synthesized and secreted by gonadotrophs of the anterior pituitary gland. FSH regulates the development, growth, pubertal maturation, and reproductive processes of the body.

Scientist at the Chongqing Normal University (Chongqing, China) used horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled monoclonal anti-FSH to catalyze the luminol-hydrogen peroxide reaction and determine the FSH. The hormone reacts with an excessive amount of HRP-labeled anti-FSH. The team was able to separate the free enzyme conjugate and immune complex in alkaline borate buffer using a high voltage.

To improve the sensitivity, a series of measures was adopted, including the choice of sodium tetraphenylboron as a new CL enhancer, with a unique design in the detect window. Under optimal conditions, the calibration curve for FSH was established in the concentration range of 1 IU/L - 150 IU/L and the detection limit was 0.08 IU/L. Compared with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), this method decreased the detection limit by about 25-fold, and it has been successfully employed on determination of the FSH in human serum. The study was published in July 2010, in the Journal of Immunoassay and Immunochemistry.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) can be used to separate ionic species by their charge and frictional forces and hydrodynamic radius. The technique of CE is designed to separate species based on their size to charge ratio in the interior of a small capillary filled with an electrolyte. Chemiluminescence, also known as chemoluminescence, is the emission of light with limited emission of heat (luminescence), as the result of a chemical reaction.

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