A competitive microtitre plate enzyme immunoassay for plasma testosterone using polyclonal anti-testosterone immunoglobulins.

An enzyme immunoassay for plasma testosterone was developed based on competition between an immobilised testosterone-casein conjugate and the analyte for polyclonal anti-testosterone immunoglobulins, followed by the use of enzyme-labelled second antibodies to determine the degree of competition. The quantity of immobilised testosterone-casein conjugate was optimised so that the lower affinity anti-testosterone antibody populations present did not affect the assay. The assay standard curve covered a range of 11-300 fmol/well. Testosterone levels in small amounts of male and female plasma could be assayed with good reproducibility and correlated well with results obtained by radioimmunoassay. By comparison with an analogous assay using monoclonal antibodies it appears that, given that the assay sensitivity is the most important criterion for choice, the use a polyclonal antiserum with this type of reactive antibody selection is preferable to the use of monoclonal antibodies.