Improved sensitivity of the mouse interstitial cell testosterone assay with the addition of forskolin

• Published in: Canadian journal of physiology and pharmacology Vol. 70; no. 6; p. 866
• Main Authors: Debertin, W J, Pomerantz, D K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada 01.06.1992
• Subjects: Animals; Colforsin - pharmacology; Extracellular Space - metabolism; Luteinizing Hormone - blood; Luteinizing Hormone - metabolism; Male; Mice; Physiology - methods; Radioimmunoassay; Rats; Sensitivity and Specificity; Testis - cytology; Testis - metabolism; Testosterone - analysis; Testosterone - biosynthesis
• ISSN: 0008-4212; 1205-7541
• DOI: 10.1139/y92-116

Modification of the mouse interstitial cell testosterone assay by the addition of 1.5 microM forskolin to the incubation medium has improved the sensitivity of this luteinizing hormone bioassay from approximately 100 to 3 pg/tube of NIH rLH RP-2. Luteinizing hormone can be clearly detected in 1 microL of serum from rats castrated 1 week previously and 5 microL of serum from intact rats. Parallelism was noted between dilution curves of serum from intact and castrated rats, and the luteinizing hormone standard curve. Luteinizing hormone detected in serum samples from 30 intact rats by the improved bioassay and by radioimmunoassay was significantly correlated (r = 0.85). Secretion patterns of circulating luteinizing hormone in individual rats were similar when detected by either bioassay or radioimmunoassay. Thus, with the addition of forskolin, the mouse interstitial cell testosterone assay has been improved so that luteinizing hormone can be detected in small volumes of serum or plasma from male rats.