"IN VIVO RADIOIMMUNOASSAY" OF ALDOSTERONE
ABSTRACT Aldosterone antibodies were raised in sheep immunized with a complex of D-aldosterone-21-hemisuccinate and bovine serum albumin. The intravenous injection of these antibodies into rats caused a delay in the disappearance rate of tritiated aldosterone from the blood. The degree of this effect depends on the body weight of the animals, on the amount of the antiserum given, and on the interval between the injection of antibodies and that of labelled aldosterone. After the injection of aldosterone antibodies and the tritiated hormone, the plasma concentration of labelled aldosterone was related to the rate of secretion of the hormone. When aldosterone secretion was low, subsequent to high sodium intake, or abolished after adrenalectomy, the plasma concentration of tritiated aldosterone was higher than in the control rats. Stimulation of aldosterone secretion by furosemide or ACTH, or administration of cold aldosterone resulted in a decrease in the plasma concentration of the labelled hormone. It is suggested that the relationship between the amount of free aldosterone in the "inner pool" and the plasma concentration of tritiated aldosterone is the consequence of a competition of labelled and unlabelled hormone for the binding capacity of the antibody.