title: Standardization of FSH, LH and hCG--current position and future prospects.
abstract: Gonadotropin measurements contribute significantly to patient management in both endocrinology and oncology. Differences in calibration, antibody specificities and assay design mean that gonadotropin results obtained in different methods are still not comparable. Comparing patient results obtained in different methods therefore remains problematic, whether for individual patient care, when assessing the results of multicentre clinical trials, or when formulating national and international guidelines and recommendations. Achieving improved comparability of results for these important analytes will require clear descriptive nomenclature, accurate calibration with highly purified standards, careful characterization of what gonadotropin isoforms methods are measuring, broad recommendations about the most clinically appropriate antibody combinations, and increased awareness of clinically relevant interferences and the action required to minimise their effect. Encouraging manufacturers to standardize and carefully describe the evaluation methods they use, such that data from different manufacturers can readily be compared, is also a pre-requisite for future progress.
authors.affiliation: UK NEQAS for Peptide Hormones, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, 51 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SA, UK. C.Sturgeon@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Sturgeon
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ellis
mesh_terms: D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002138:Calibration; D006062:Gonadotropins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D011786:Quality Control; D012015:Reference Standards
chemical_list: D006062:Gonadotropins