INTERNATIONAL REFERENCE PREPARATION OF HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPHIN FOR IMMUNOASSAY: POTENCY ESTIMATES IN VARIOUS BIOASSAY AND PROTEIN BINDING ASSAY SYSTEMS; AND INTERNATIONAL REFERENCE PREPARATIONS OF THE α AND β SUBUNITS OF HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPHIN FOR IMMUNOASSAY

1980 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. STORRING ◽  
ROSE E. GAINES-DAS ◽  
D. R. BANGHAM

The preparation and nature of the International Reference Preparation of Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG) for Immunoassay (IRP), as well as that of a second batch of ampoules (HCG 75/589) prepared identically from the same HCG preparation, are described. A collaborative study of these materials was carried out by 11 laboratories in eight countries, using different bioassay and immunoassay methods. Using the various in-vivo and in-vitro bioassays and receptor assays, the mean log potency estimates for each method within each laboratory of the HCG content of ampoules of the IRP, in terms of the Second International Standard of Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin for Bioassay (IS), were homogeneous and gave an overall weighted geometric mean (95% confidence limits) of 650 (632–669) International Units (i.u.)/ampoule. There was considerable heterogeneity of potency estimates of the IRP in terms of the IS both within and between many of the immunoassay systems (reflecting the impurity of the IS), and hence attempts to calibrate the IRP with immunoassay systems of different specificities were invalid. Immunoassay estimates of the HCG content of preparations of serum and urine, in terms of the IRP, showed considerable heterogeneity between assay systems (although the degree of this heterogeneity was no greater than that observed using the IS as standard), but the ranking order between preparations was consistent. Confirmation was obtained that contamination of the IRP with HCG-α and HCG-β subunits was insignificant. Accelerated degradation studies of the IRP stored at increased temperatures suggested that its stability under normal storage conditions would be satisfactory. It was agreed that the IRP was suitable to serve as an international reference preparation for immunoassay, and it was assigned a unitage of 650 i.u./ampoule on the basis of bioassay calibration. Since the ampoules of HCG (75/589) did not differ significantly from the IRP in any of the assay systems studied, it appeared to be equally suitable as a reference preparation. The International Reference Preparations of the α and β Subunits of Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin for Immunoassay are also described.

1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Iles ◽  
T. Chard

ABSTRACT Material with the immunochemical characteristics of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is produced by bladder tumour cells in vitro and in vivo. In order to characterize this material further, media were collected from 17 cell cultures (three choriocarcinomas, seven bladder carcinomas and seven 'normal' urothelium). The hCG-like material was compared with pregnancy hCG and purified α- and β-subunits by specific radioimmunoassays. Media were also submitted to affinity chromatography and the fractions further analysed by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. It was shown that both the neoplastic and normal urothelium produced only free β-subunit-like material. This urothelial 'β-hCG' has the same molecular weight and electrophoretic mobility as that present in the intact hCG of pregnancy.


1981 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. STORRING ◽  
A. A. ZAIDI ◽  
Y. G. MISTRY ◽  
BERIT FRÖYSA ◽  
BRIDGET E. STENNING ◽  
...  

The FSH potencies of 12 preparations of highly purified human pituitary FSH, originating from six different laboratories, were determined by in-vivo and in-vitro bioassays and by immunoassay in terms of the First International Reference Preparation of Human Pituitary Gonadotrophins (FSH and LH) for Bioassay (IRP; coded 69/104). The contamination of these FSH preparations with LH was also determined. Estimates of protein content were based on the absorbance at 280 nm of solutions of the preparations, assuming that A1%1 cm 280 = 10. The FSH potencies varied between different preparations from 827 i.u./mg to 13 100 i.u./mg by in-vivo bioassay; from 2930 to 14 600 i.u./mg by in-vitro bioassay and from 1680 to 5690 i.u./mg by immunoassay. The ratios of in-vivo biological activity relative to in-vitro biological activity and to immunoreactivity respectively varied between preparations from 0·06 to 2·3 and from 0·15 to 4·1, and there was a significant positive correlation between each of these ratios and the in-vivo biological potency of the preparations; such differences could be due to varying degrees of sialylation between preparations. On the other hand the ratios of in-vitro biological activity to immunoreactivity between preparations were fairly constant (approx. 2). The excess biological activity relative to immunoreactivity observed, in terms of the IRP, in all these materials is consistent with recent findings of some immunoreactive FSH in the IRP unassociated with biological activity. These data did not demonstrate any significant advantage, in terms of FSH in-vivo biological potency, from the use of fresh-frozen rather than acetone-dried pituitary glands for the isolation of FSH. Contamination of all these preparations with LH appeared to be less than 3% (w/w), as determined by in-vitro bioassay and by immunoassay. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the selection of material for an international reference preparation for immunoassay and attention is drawn to the value of high in-vivo biological FSH potency as a criterion of the identity of a preparation as well as of its freedom from contaminants without FSH biological activity.


1963 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Gospodarowicz ◽  
J. Legault-Démare

ABSTRACT Human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and lactogenic hormone (LTH or prolactin) were found practically inactive on the incorporation of 14Cacetate into cholesterol of normal rat corpus luteum in vitro. On the contrary, when added simultaneously to the incubation medium, they increased by 90% the labeling of cholesterol. When pseudopregnancy corpora lutea were used, HCG alone stimulated to the same amount, but no stimulation was observed with LTH alone. These results show that the stimulation of cholesterol synthesis is produced by a synergic action of LTH and HCG, LTH being introduced either in vivo (pseudopregnancy) or in vitro.


1985 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-121
Author(s):  
Hannu Rajaniemi ◽  
Jan Sogn ◽  
Paul Holmes ◽  
Björn Källfelt ◽  
Per Olof Janson

Abstract. Pseudopregnant rats were injected with [125I] hCG, anaesthesized 1 h later and after cannulation of the aorta the ovaries were isolated and perfused with Gey & Gey buffer containing 0.2% BSA. The release of radioactivity was monitored for 2 h and analyzed by gel filtration. Five to ten per cent of the radioactivity was released within 2 h and represented small molecular weight peptides and iodotyrosine and [125I]hCG. Analysis of the ovarian radioactivity prior to and after perfusion revealed that virtually all hCG was receptor-bound. Loading the medium with unlabelled hCG displaced [125I]hCG from the receptor but did not enhance its degradation. Histological examination showed that the ovarian tissues were still intact after the 2 h perfusion. Immunohistochemical studies revealed a localization of the hCG at the cell periphery both prior to and after perfusion. These results provide evidence showing that the rate of internalization of receptor-hCG complexes in rat luteal cells is slow in vivo.


Reproduction ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 130 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Colin Duncan ◽  
Eva Gay ◽  
Jacqueline A Maybin

The human corpus luteum expresses genomic progesterone receptors (PRs) suggesting that progesterone may have an autocrine or paracrine role in luteal function. We hypothesised that the reduction in luteal PR reported in the late-luteal phase augmented progesterone withdrawal and had a role in luteolysis. We therefore tested the hypothesis that luteal rescue with human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) would maintain PR expression. PR was immunolocalised to different cell types in human corpora lutea (n = 35) from different stages of the luteal phase and after luteal rescue with exogenous hCG. There was no change in the staining intensity of theca-lutein cell or stromal cell PR throughout the luteal phase or after luteal rescue. In the late-luteal phase, granulosa-lutein cell PR immunostaining was reduced (P < 0.05) but the trend to reduction was also seen after luteal rescue with hCG (P = 0.055). To further investigate the effect of hCG on granulosa-lutein cell PR expression, an in vitro model system of cultured human luteinised granulosa cells was studied. Cells were cultured for 12–13 days exposed to different patterns of hCG and aminoglutethamide to manipulate progesterone secretion (P < 0.0001). Expression of PR A/B and PR B isoforms was examined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. PR A/B mRNA was lower (P < 0.05) after 11–13 days of culture than after 7 days of culture. This reduction could not be prevented by hCG in the presence (P < 0.05) or absence (P < 0.05) of stimulated progesterone secretion. The expression of PR B mRNA showed a similar pattern (P = 0.054). Simulated early pregnancy in vivo and hCG treatment of luteinised granulosa cells in vitro did not appear to prevent the down-regulation of PR seen during luteolysis.


1966 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 420-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Robyn ◽  
P. O. Hubinont ◽  
E. Diczfalusy

ABSTRACT Immunologically mono-specific antisera prepared against human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) preparations completely neutralized in vitro as well as in vivo the luteinizing hormone (LH) and also the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) activity of both human hypophyseal gonadotrophin (HHG) and human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG) preparations.


1993 ◽  
Vol 128 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan M Zanelli ◽  
Rose E Gaines-Das ◽  
P Corran

The biological potency of calcitonins in clinical use in long-term treatment of Paget's disease of bone and, increasingly, in osteoporosis is usually expressed in international units defined by the relevant World Health Organization international reference preparation. The international reference preparations for porcine and human calcitonins were ampouled in 1970 and stocks are now exhausted. Replacement standards were ampouled in 1989 and have been evaluated and calibrated by an international collaborative study comprising 16 laboratories in 12 countries. Evaluations included high-performance liquid chromatography and in vitro bioassay; calibration of each new ampouled preparation in terms of its international reference preparation was by in vivo rat hypocalcaemia bioassay. On the basis of the results of the study and with the agreement of the participants, replacement standards were established by the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization of the World Health Organization in 1991: the international standard for porcine calcitonin (ampoule code 89/540), with an assigned potency of 0.8 international units per ampoule, and the international standard for human calcitonin, with an assigned potency of 17.5 international units per ampoule. Both international standards appeared to be sufficiently stable to serve as the international standards for in vivo biological assays. Comparison of the two species of calcitonin in the same hypocalcaemia assay showed that they were approximately equipotent when the doses were given intravenously but that the human peptide was four- to sixfold more potent than porcine calcitonin when doses were given subcutaneously, emphasizing the need to compare "like with like".


1977 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
SOREL SULIMOVICI ◽  
M. S. ROGINSKY

The adenylate cyclase activity and the concentration of testosterone in testicular mitochondria from immature rats were measured after administration of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) or dibutyryl cyclic AMP in vivo or in vitro. Intratesticular injection of HCG produced an increase in adenylate cyclase activity which preceded the rise in the level of testosterone, whereas addition of the trophic hormone in vitro resulted in simultaneous increases. Administration of dibutyryl cyclic AMP in vivo enhanced the testosterone content of the mitochondria. However, the cyclic nucleotide added in vitro at concentrations up to 5 mmol/l had no effect. Cycloheximide injected intraperitoneally before the administration of HCG abolished the stimulatory effect of the trophic hormone on the level of testosterone in the mitochondria, whereas chloramphenicol had no effect. These results, although they confirm the role of cyclic AMP as an intermediate in the stimulatory effect of HCG on the concentration of testosterone in rat testis, do not support a role for mitochondrial adenylate cyclase in this action. A protein regulator(s) formed extramitochondrially appears to be involved in the stimulatory effect of gonadotrophins on steroidogenesis.


1984 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. Storring ◽  
G. Witthaus ◽  
R. E. Gaines Das ◽  
W. Stamm

ABSTRACT The preparation and nature of the International Reference Preparation of Tetracosactide for Bioassay (IRP; in ampoules coded 80/590) are described. The IRP was studied by six laboratories in five countries using in-vivo and in-vitro bioassays and various physicochemical methods. The bulk (1–24)corticotrophin-tetracosapeptide (batch 000179) from which the IRP was prepared contained 10·4% (w/w) acetic acid and 8·3% (w/w) water; its (1–24)corticotrophin-tetracosapeptide content was estimated to be 71·7% (w/w) by amino acid analysis, 74·2% (w/w) by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and 77·5% (w/w) by spectrophotometry. (1–24)Corticotrophin-tetracosapeptide accounted for more than 90% (w/w) of the total peptide in the IRP as judged by HPLC, thin-layer chromatography, carboxymethyl-cellulose chromatography, isoelectric focusing (IEF) and electrophoresis. The homogeneity of the peptide in the IRP was similar by all methods to that in batch 000179 from which it was prepared. The (1–24)corticotrophin-tetracosapeptide content of the IRP (with 95% confidence limits), in terms of batch 000179, was found to be 491 μg/ampoule by HPLC and spectrophotometry, 473 (433–513) μg/ ampoule by IEF and 505 (473–539) μg/ampoule by the in-vitro rat adrenocortical cell assay. A comparison in the same bioassay system of the IRP with a laboratory house standard of (1–24)corticotrophin-tetracosapeptide, which originated from a different manufacturer, gave similar results. Accelerated thermal degradation studies of the IRP by adrenocortical cell assay, HPLC and IEF suggested that more than 99·9% of its original content of (1–24)corticotrophin-tetracosapeptide would remain after 10 years under normal storage conditions of − 20 °C in the dark. Bioassay estimates of samples of the IRP which had undergone significant degradation were higher than estimates by HPLC, indicating that molecular species other than (1–24)corticotrophin-tetracosapeptide contributed to their corticotrophic activity. The corticotrophic activity of the IRP was demonstrated by cytochemical bioassay and by in-vivo bioassay as well as by the adrenocortical cell assay. After consideration of these data, the Expert Committee on Biological Standardization of the World Health Organization established the ampouled preparation, coded 80/590, as the International Reference Preparation of Tetracosactide for Bioassay and assigned to it a potency of 490 i.u./ampoule; thus the i.u. is represented by 1 μg (1–24)corticotrophin-tetracosapeptide. J. Endocr. (1984) 100, 51–60


1982 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. Storring ◽  
A. A. Zaidi ◽  
Y. G. Mistry ◽  
Monica Lindberg ◽  
Bridget E. Stenning ◽  
...  

Abstract. The LH potencies of 12 preparations of highly purified human pituitary LH, from 6 laboratories, were estimated by 2 in vivo bioassays and an in vitro bioassay in terms of the International Reference Preparation of Human Pituitary Gonadotrophins (FSH and LH) for Bioassay (coded 69/104); and by immunoassay in terms of the International Reference Preparation of Human Pituitary Luteinizing Hormone for Immunoassay (IRP; coded 68/40). The LH potencies varied between preparations, including the IRP (68/40), from 864 to 5740 IU/mg by seminal vesicle weight gain (SVW) assay; from 1510 to 11500 IU/mg by ovarian ascorbate depletion (OAAD) assay; from 4490 to 14500 IU/mg by in vitro (testicular interstitial-cell testosterone production) bioassay; and from 2030 to 9180 IU/mg by immunoassay. Estimates of protein content were based on the assumption that the absorbance of LH at 280 nm (A 1% 1 cm) was 6.0. The LH potency of most preparations was highest by in vitro bioassay and lowest by SVW assay. The correlation between activities determined by SVW and OAAD assays was more marked than that between estimates by OAAD assay and in vitro bioassay; there was no correlation between estimates by SVW assay and in vitro bioassay. The slopes of the log dose-response curves of preparations in the OAAD assay were positively correlated with their potencies by OAAD assay and negatively correlated with the slopes of their log dose-response curves in the SVW assay. The qualitative differences between preparations are considered to be a reflection of the heterogeneity of LH and of its modification by different purification procedures. The present data, together with the different patterns of heterogeneity found in some of these preparations by isoelectric focusing in a separate study, suggest that the more basic molecular forms of LH, which are preferentially purified during the isolation of LH free from FSH and TSH, have shorter plasma survival times than the more acidic forms. The LH immunoreactivities of all preparations were significantly correlated with their potencies estimated by each of the in vivo bioassays but not with those estimated by in vitro bioassay. The ratios of in vitro bioactivity (in terms of IRP (68/40)): immunoreactivity varied between preparations from 0.53–1.5. The FSH content of each preparation was less than 2% (w/w) by bioassay and immunoassay. Most preparations were more potent by in vitro bioassay than by in vivo bioassay, which contrasted with, and complemented, findings for purified FSH preparations. This indicated that, as in the case of LH, the more basic molecular species of FSH are associated with lower ratios of in vivo: in vitro bioactivity than are the more acidic species. This study provides the most comprehensive comparison available of the activities of purified preparations of LH isolated from frozen and acetone-dried human pituitary glands in different experienced laboratories. These data are needed for selecting material for an international reference preparation of LH for immunoassay on the basis of high LH potency by in vivo bioassay, recommended by the WHO as a criterion for the identity of the hormone and for its freedom from contaminants. The consequences of the heterogeneity of LH are considered for the purification of the reference material and for the suitability of the latter for the various types of specimens which require LH assays.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document