A comparison of salivary testosterone measurement using immunoassays and tandem mass spectrometry.
Enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) are widely used to measure salivary testosterone. However, little is known about how accurately different EIAs assess testosterone, partially because estimates across various EIAs differ considerably. We compared testosterone concentrations across EIAs of three commonly used manufacturers (DRG International, Salimetrics, and IBL International) to liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Relative to EIAs from Salimetrics and IBL International, EIAs supplied by DRG International provided the closest approximation to LC-MS/MS testosterone concentrations, followed closely by EIAs from Salimetrics, and then IBL. Additionally, EIAs tended to inflate estimates of lower testosterone concentrations in women. Examining our results and comparing them to existing data revealed that testosterone EIAs had decreased linear correspondence with LC-MS/MS in comparison to cortisol EIAs. Overall, this paper provides researchers with information to better measure testosterone in their research and more accurately compare testosterone measurements across different methods.
University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, United States.
Keith M
KM
Welker
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
Bethany
B
Lassetter
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States.
Cassandra M
CM
Brandes
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States.
Smrithi
S
Prasad
Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States.
Dennis R
DR
Koop
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States. Electronic address: mehta@uoregon.edu.
Pranjal H
PH
Mehta
D000328:Adult; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D013739:Testosterone / Q000032:analysis*
D013739:Testosterone
Immunoassays; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Measurement; Salivary testosterone