title: Comparative studies with penicillinase, horseradish peroxidase, and alkaline phosphatase as enzyme labels in developing enzyme immunoassay of cortisol.
abstract: Relative merit of different enzyme labels for measuring cortisol directly in serum by competitive enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) was examined. Cortisol-21-hemisuccinate was labeled separately with penicillinase, horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) under identical reaction conditions. Antibody developed in rabbits against cortisol-3-0-(carboxymethyl)-oxime-bovine serum albumin was used to coat polystyrene tubes that were precoated with anti-rabbit gamma globulin (ARGG). Cortisol standards were prepared in steroid-free human serum in buffer (1:4) contaning 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid (8-ANS). Assay buffer also consisted 8-ANS. The assay involved adding standard cortisol or serum sample to antibody-coated tubes, followed by addition of enzyme label and buffer, and incubation for 2 h at 37 degrees C. The whole procedure took 3 h for completion. All three labels proved to be sensitive, with a slope around -2.0. Although penicillinase as an enzyme label was highly sensitive and stable compared with others, the assays were not always accurate and precise, especially at low concentrations of cortisol. This was mainly due to the color reagent used for measuring penicillinase activity. Serum samples that underwent 2-3 freeze-thaw cycles gave high values with HRP label compared with ALP. Therefore, utilizing ALP as an enzyme label, an ELISA was developed and its performance was comparable with some of the commercial kits already in the market.
authors.affiliation: Hormone Research Foundation, A-22 Freedom Fighter's Cultural Center, Nebsarai, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: G Lakshmi
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Kumari
authors.forename: Ravindra N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Dhir
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000817:Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002417:Cattle; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004355:Drug Stability; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006041:Goats; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D010405:Penicillinase / Q000378:metabolism*; D011817:Rabbits; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000817:Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; C027132:1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D010405:Penicillinase; D006854:Hydrocortisone