Steroid immunoassay in clinical chemistry

This thesis reports experimental work in developing radioimmunoassays suitable for application in the routine clinical laboratory. Emphasis is placed on the cost-effectiveness of the assays. Because such an approach involves simplification of the assays, considerable emphasis is placed on the demonstration of accuracy. Experimental studies of factors which affect the specificities of steroid immunoassays are described. Factors other than measured cross-reactivities were found to influence the specificity of the immunoassay itself. These factors include other steroid binding proteins, including second antisera of a different specificity and an apparent heterogeneity of specificity within most antisera. A critical review of methods for measuring and reporting immunoassay- and antiserum specificities is included. The importance of antibody affinity in avoiding non-specific interference from, for instance proteins and minor variations in technique, is emphasised. Technical limitations, future clinical requirements, future possibilities and alternative methods of analysis are discussed. (Auth.)