DEVELOPMENT OF A SIMPLE AND SENSITIVE ENZYME- LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY (ELISA) FOR CLINICAL MEASUREMENT OF TESTOSTERONE USING PENICILLINASE AS LABEL

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a homologous combination of antiserum raised against testosterone-3-0-carboxymethyloxime-bovine serum albumin (T-3-0-CMO-BSA ) and penicillinase-labelled T-3-0-CMO was developed. This assay was utilized to measure testosterone in serum samples of male and female subjects. The sensitivity of the assay is 50pg/well and the antibody developed crossreacted in less than 20% with 5α-dehydrotestosterone (5α DHT) . lnter- and intraassay variations and all other validation factors such as recovery, test of parallelism, etc. were well in the acceptable ranges. Comparison of testosterone values of 32 plasma specimens obtained by solid phase ELISA method and radioimmunoassay (RIA) showed a good correlation (0. 96).