Physicians rely on accurate, sensitive, and specific measurement of the pituitary hormones to aid in the diagnosis of pituitary diseases and to monitor the effectiveness of treatments. Over the past 10-20 years, improved analytical specificity for measuring the hormone of interest, and the enhanced analytical sensitivity to detect very small concentrations of hormones has been the focus of manufacturers to provide reliable clinical laboratory results.
On the following pages, a brief overview of the historical and current technologies is provided.
Table 6: Analytical Principles for Measuring Hormone Levels | Analytical Principle | Pituitary Hormone |
Radioimmunassay (RIA)
| ADH |
| ACTH |
| GH (historic) |
| FSH (historic) |
| LH (historic) |
| PRL |
| TSH (historic) |
Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA)
| ACTH |
| GH |
| FSH |
| LH |
| PRL |
| TSH (2nd generation) |
Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (CIA)
| ACTH |
| GH |
| FSH |
| LH |
| PRL |
| TSH (3rd generation) |
Chromatographic
| ADPH |
| Oxytocin |
| GH |
| FSH |
| LH |
| PRL |
