Disturbed melatonin secretion in chronic alcoholism and withdrawal.

CLINICALCHEMISTRY, Vol.33,No.7, 1987 1291 four patients with the Farmos or the Boot-Ceiltech assay, in both of which mouse serum or mouse immunoglobthins are included. The Behring assay, which includes rat serum, showed no interference with the three sera that over-reacted in the Serono assay. However, the rat serum was unable to neutralize immunoglobulin-bmnding substances in the serum of patient 4. Two-site ntrvlAs for TSH in serum represent major progress in diagnosis of thyroid dysfunction,but one must be awareof their inherent pitfalls. Nonimmune serum or immunoglobulins from at least one of the speciesused to raise the assay antibodies should always be included in the assay, and the manufacturers of the kits should inelude information about the kind of neutralizing medium being used. However, the addition of nonimmune serum or immunoglobulins will occasionally fail to eliminate the interference. If a falsely high TSH value is suspected inspiteofthe inclusionofan appropriate neutralizing medium in the assay, I recommend measuring the TSH by one or more different assays.