One step enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for direct estimation of serum cortisol

One-step monoclonal antibody based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for direct determination of cortisol in serum

Monoclonal antibodies to cortisol have obvious potential advantages as starting materials for assay systems to detect their levels in body fluids. This is very important for monitoring pituitary gland and adrenal functions. To develop a one-step competitive heterogeneous enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), a monoclonal anti-cortisol antibody was generated using a reasonably designed haptenic derivative. Cortisol-3-O-carboxymethyloxime was coupled to carrier protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) to enhance its immunogenicity. Spleen cells were prepared from a BALB/c mouse, which had repeatedly been immunized with a conjugate of cortisol-3-O-carboxymethyloxime-bovine serum albumin (cortisol-3-O-CMO-BSA), to be fused with SP2/0 myeloma cells. After one fusion experiment, four hybridoma clones secreting a practical antibody were established. One of the resulting monoclonal antibodies, 2C9D11B5, showed an affinity constant (Ka) of 1.4 × 10(10) M(-1) for cortisol and provided a practical calibration curve (limit of detection [LOD], 0.26 ng per assay) in this ELISA system employing cortisol-21-hemisuccinate-horseradish peroxidase (cortisol-21-HS-HRP) as a tracer. Cross-reactivities with related C-21 steroids were acceptably low: 11-deoxycortisol (3.5%), cortisone (0.47%), corticosterone (<0.01%), progesterone (<0.01%), 17-hydroxyprogesterone (1.2%), 6-hydroxycortisol (7.6%), and tetrahydrocortisol (<0.01%). The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficient of variations (CVs) ranged from 4.3% to 9.2% and 3.8% to 10.4 %, respectively. The analytical recoveries were 92.3% to 116.3%. Serum cortisol levels of healthy volunteers were determined after chilled acetone, stripped to be 292.76 ± 201.38 ng/mL (n=5), which are in the reference range.

Influence of different homologous and heterologous combinations of antibodies and enzyme conjugates of dehydroepiandrostosterone on the sensitivity and specificity of DHEA ELISA

Anti-sera were raised against three immunogen: dehydroepiandrostosterone-17-carboxymethyl-oxime-bovine serum albumin (DHEA-17-CMO-BSA), DHEA-7-CMO-BSA, and dehydroepiandrostosterone-3-hemisuccinate-bovine serum albumin (DHEA-3-HS-BSA). They were evaluated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled DHEA-17-CMO, DHEA-7-CMO, DHEA-3-HS enzyme conjugates for their influence on the sensitivity and specificity of ELISA. Of the various combinations, DHEA-3-HS-BSA antiserum along with DHEA-7-CMO-horseradish peroxidase (DHEA-7-CMO-HRP) enzyme conjugate showed no cross-reaction with any of the closely related steroids. All the homologous combinations appeared to be less sensitive due to their low affinity for dehydroepiandrostosterone. Out of six heterologous systems tested, only three combinations, (1) anti-DHEA-17-CMO antiserum and DHEA-7-CMO-horseradish peroxidase, (2) anti-DHEA-7-CMO-antiserum and DHEA-3-HS-horseradish peroxidase, and (2) anti-DHEA-3-HS-antiserum and DHEA-7-CMO-horseradish peroxidase, showed displacement. The former two assays were less specific; the first one showed 15.38% and 16.66% cross-reaction with androstenediol and testosterone, respectively, whereas the second assay showed 30.3%, 22.72%, 111.1%, 62.5%, and 31.25% cross-reaction with DHEA-glucuronide, 16-dihydroxyprogesterone, androstenediol, etiocholon-3-β-ol-17-one, and aldosterone, respectively. The ability of DHEA to displace the DHEA-enzyme conjugate and the specificity of the assay appear to depend on the position of the enzyme label on the DHEA molecule as well as on the availability of antigenic sites in particular combinations of antibody and DHEA-enzyme conjugates.

The influence of spacer-containing enzyme conjugate on the sensitivity and specificity of enzyme immunoassays for hapten

BACKGROUND

In hapten enzyme immunoassays (EIA), there is an increase or decrease of labeled hapten recognition by antibody that affects sensitivity of the assay. We incorporated a spacer between a hapten derivative and enzyme to test its influence on the sensitivity and specificity of enzyme immunoassays.

METHOD

Antibodies were generated against cortisol-3-O-carboxymethyl-oxime-bovine serum albumin (cortisol-3-O-CMO-BSA) and cortisol-21-hemisuccinate-bovine serum albumin (cortisol-21-HS-BSA) as an immunogen. Four cortisol horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme conjugates were prepared using 2 cortisol derivatives (cortisol-3-O-CMO and cortisol-21-HS) with and without adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH) as a spacer. Eight combinations of homologous and heterologous assays were evaluated.

RESULT

The incorporation of ADH spacer in cortisol-enzyme conjugate improved the sensitivity in heterologous (bridge and site plus bridge) EIA systems. In heterologous assays (site plus bridge), the presence of spacer in enzyme conjugate reduced the cross-reactivity with cross-reacting steroids.

CONCLUSION

Spacer in the enzyme conjugate for hapten ELISA can improve the sensitivity of heterologous assay of hapten-like steroids. It may also reduce the cross-reactivity for some assays.

Preparation of horseradish peroxidase hydrazide and its use in immunoassay

Preparation of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) hydrazide that is HRP linked to adipic acid dihydrazide (HRP-ADH) and its use in enzyme immunoassay (EIA) is described. In this new strategy, horseradish peroxidase was conjugated to adipic acid dihydrazide using a carbodiimide coupling method. The resulting HRP-ADH was then coupled to cortisol-21-hemisuccinate (Cortisol-21-HS) to prepare enzyme conjugate. The prepared cortisol-21-HS coupled ADH-HRP (Cortisol-21-HS-ADH-HRP) enzyme conjugate was used for the development of an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for direct estimation of cortisol. To the cortisol antibody coated microtiter wells, standard or serum samples (50 microL), along with cortisol-21-HS-ADH-HRP enzyme conjugate (100 microL) were incubated for 1 h at 37 degrees C. Bound enzyme activity was measured by using tetramethyl benzidine/hydrogen peroxide (TMB/H2O2) as substrate. The sensitivity of the assay was 0.05 microg/dL and the analytical recovery ranged from 92.9 to 101.7%.

One step enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for direct estimation of serum testosterone

One step competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for direct estimation of testosterone in human serum is described. Testosterone-3-O-carboxymethyl-oxime-bovine serum albumin (testosterone-3-O-CMO-BSA), was used as immunogen and testosterone-3-O-carboxymethyl-oxime-adipic-acid dihydrazide-horseradish peroxidase (testosterone-3-O-CMO-ADH-HRP) was used as tracer. To the testosterone antibody coated microtiter wells, standard or serum samples (100 microL), along with testosterone-3-O-CMO-ADH-HRP conjugate (100 microL) were incubated for 1 h at 37 degrees C. Bound enzyme activity was measured by using tetra methyl benzidine/hydrogen peroxide (TMB/H2O2) as a substrate. In this new strategy, charcoal stripped pooled human serum spiked with non-cross reactive C18, C19, C21, and C27 steroids, used for preparing the standards and blocking the sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG)/and other steroid binding globulins (SBG). The sensitivity of the assay was 0.015 ng/mL. The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation (CVs) were ranged from 7.8 to 11.8 and 4.8 to 10.4, respectively. The serum testosterone values, obtained by this method, were correlated well with those obtained by radioimmunoassay r = .98 (n = 100).

Comparative studies with penicillinase, horseradish peroxidase, and alkaline phosphatase as enzyme labels in developing enzyme immunoassay of cortisol

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.

Substitution of carbonate buffer by water for IgG immobilization in enzyme linked immunosorbent assay

The first step of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), namely, adsorption of antigen or antibody to the plastic microtiter well plate, was studied as a function of insolubility of IgG in water. Immobilization efficiency was assessed in terms of number of wells coated per milliliter of primary antiserum. We have compared different coating/immobilization protocols, i.e., direct and indirect immobilization of primary antibody to the plastic microtiter well plate using carbonate buffer and phosphate buffer with glutaraldehyde. We have observed efficient coating when the immobilization of primary antibody through an immunobridge technique was performed, where water was used as a coating medium. It gave a higher number of wells coated per milliliter of anti-serum (primary or secondary) than other compared coating protocols and it allowed the use of serum (non-immune) and anti-serum (primary and secondary antibody) dilutions, avoiding the need for gamma-globulin purification from normal and immunized serum.

Carbodiimide or Periodate Method to Prepare Peroxidase Hydrazide for Its Use in Immunoassay

Peroxidase hydrazides were prepared by conjugating horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH) by carbodiimide or periodate oxidation method. The resulting HRP hydrazides (ADH-HRP) were conjugated to cortisol-21-hemisuccinate (cortisol-21-HS) by forming diimide bonds using the N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) carbodiimide mediated reaction. The prepared cortisol-21-HS-ADH-HRP enzyme conjugates were utilized for the development of an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for direct estimation of cortisol. To the cortisol antibody coated microtiter wells, standard or serum sample (50 microL), along with 100 microL of cortisol-21-HS-ADH-HRP enzyme conjugate (ADH-HRP used is prepared by either carbodiimide or periodate oxidation method), was incubated for 1 hr at 37 degrees C. Bound enzyme activity was measured by using tetramethyl benzidine/hydrogen peroxide (TMB/H202) as substrate. The sensitivity, specificity, and recovery of the assays were found to be identical when ELISAs were employed with cortisol enzyme conjugates prepared by conjugating cortisol-21-HS to HRP hydrazide, made either by the carbodiimide method or periodate oxidation method.