Comparison of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay vs radioimmunoassay for measuring serum progesterone at low levels.
Reports have suggested a correlation between low serum progesterone (P) levels prior to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration and increased pregnancy rates in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients. We have published two opposite conclusions, dependent upon the methodology used. Pregnancy rates were higher when P by radioimmunoassay (RIA) was < 1 ng/mL, but no increase in pregnancy rates were found when P was measured by the same company's non-isotopic assay. To test if the lack of correlation was attributable to the P method, sera from IVF patients were assayed by two methods, RIA and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). There was 81.8% agreement between methods. Further studies are needed to determine the importance of low P; however, if non-isotopic methods are used, the IVF center should carefully determine the accuracy of their assay in the low range.
Check
J H
JH
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden, USA.
Lauer
C
C
Ubelacker
L
L
Kuhn
R
R
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000494:pharmacology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D011374:Progesterone