title: Validation of a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the determination of cortisol in canine plasma samples.
abstract: Samples were obtained from clinically normal dogs before and after ACTH stimulation and dexamethasone suppression tests. The test kit Enzymun-Test (Boehringer Mannheim) for determining cortisol concentrations in human plasma was used in connection with the analyser system Enzymun-Test (Boehringer Mannheim) System ES300 following the manufacturer's instructions. The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation were 1.28% and 5.64%, respectively. The mean recovery when assaying samples with a cortisol content of more than 100 nmol/L was 95.41%, but this percentage decreased in samples with lower cortisol levels. The sensitivity of the assay was 2.76 nmol/L. The results of the ACTH stimulation and dexamethasone suppression tests were similar to those published previously. The ELISA method evaluated allows a precise and sensitive determination of cortisol concentrations in canine plasma samples. The major drawback observed was the loss of accuracy at low cortisol concentrations. Since the assay tends then to report lower cortisol concentrations, the generally accepted concentration of 40 nmol/L may not be suitable as the cutoff value in dexamethasone suppression tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Ginel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pérez-Rico
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lucena
mesh_terms: D000303:Adrenal Cortex Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D004285:Dogs / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D016014:Linear Models; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000662:veterinary; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D003907:Dexamethasone; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D006854:Hydrocortisone