title: Measurement of testosterone in infant fecal samples.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study reports the validation of a noninvasive method for repeated assessment of testosterone from infant fecal samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fecal samples were collected from cotton diaper liners, subjected to methanol extraction, and assayed using a modified commercial testosterone RIA kit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Method validity was supported by a recovery near 100%, a sensitivity of 1.23 pg/ml, and inter- and intra-assay coefficients of variations less than 10 and 15%, respectively. Testosterone was detected in all samples from male and female infants aged 2 weeks to 15 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fecal assessment is supported as a novel, non-invasive tool for studying testosterone during early human development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. althomps@email.unc.edu
authors.forename: Amanda L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Whitten
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lampl
mesh_terms: D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013739:Testosterone / Q000032:analysis*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone