A COMPARISON OF PREPARATIONS OF HIGHLY PURIFIED HUMAN PITUITARY FOLLICLE-STIMULATING HORMONE: DIFFERENCES IN THE FOLLICLE-STIMULATING HORMONE POTENCIES AS DETERMINED BY IN-VIVO BIOASSAY, IN-VITRO BIOASSAY AND IMMUNOASSAY
- 1 November 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Bioscientifica in Journal of Endocrinology
- Vol. 91 (2) , 353-362
- https://doi.org/10.1677/joe.0.0910353
Abstract
The FSH potencies of 12 preparations of highly purified human pituitary FSH, originating from six different laboratories, were determined by in-vivo and in-vitro bioassays and by immunoassay in terms of the First International Reference Preparation of Human Pituitary Gonadotrophins (FSH and LH) for Bioassay (IRP; coded 69/104). The contamination of these FSH preparations with LH was also determined. Estimates of protein content were based on the absorbance at 280 nm of solutions of the preparations, assuming that A1%1 cm 280 = 10. The FSH potencies varied between different preparations from 827 i.u./mg to 13 100 i.u./mg by in-vivo bioassay; from 2930 to 14 600 i.u./mg by in-vitro bioassay and from 1680 to 5690 i.u./mg by immunoassay. The ratios of in-vivo biological activity relative to in-vitro biological activity and to immunoreactivity respectively varied between preparations from 0·06 to 2·3 and from 0·15 to 4·1, and there was a significant positive correlation between each of these ratios and the in-vivo biological potency of the preparations; such differences could be due to varying degrees of sialylation between preparations. On the other hand the ratios of in-vitro biological activity to immunoreactivity between preparations were fairly constant (approx. 2). The excess biological activity relative to immunoreactivity observed, in terms of the IRP, in all these materials is consistent with recent findings of some immunoreactive FSH in the IRP unassociated with biological activity. These data did not demonstrate any significant advantage, in terms of FSH in-vivo biological potency, from the use of fresh-frozen rather than acetone-dried pituitary glands for the isolation of FSH. Contamination of all these preparations with LH appeared to be less than 3% (w/w), as determined by in-vitro bioassay and by immunoassay. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the selection of material for an international reference preparation for immunoassay and attention is drawn to the value of high in-vivo biological FSH potency as a criterion of the identity of a preparation as well as of its freedom from contaminants without FSH biological activity.This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- Biological and immunological characterization of human luteinizing hormone: II. A comparison of the immunological and biological activities of pituitary extracts after electrofocusing using different standard preparationsMolecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 1977
- Evidence for the Existence of a Large Molecular Weight Protein in Human Pituitary Tissue Having Follicle Stimulating Hormone ActivityJournal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 1977
- PURIFICATION AND PROPERTIES OF THE SUBUNITS OF HUMAN PITUITARY FOLLICLE-STIMULATING HORMONEJournal of Endocrinology, 1976
- On Obtaining Luteinizing and Follicle-Stimulating Hormones from Human PituitariesJournal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 1968
- Studies on the Composition and Properties of Immunochemical Grade Human Pituitary Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH): Comparison with Luteinizing Hormone (LH)1Endocrinology, 1968
- Some Chemical and Physical Properties of Human Pituitary Follicle-Stimulating Hormone*Biochemistry, 1967
- Purification of Follicle-stimulating Hormone from Human Pituitary GlandsJournal of Biological Chemistry, 1967
- Recovery and Partial Purification of FSH and LH During the Purification of TSH from Human Pituitary Glands1Endocrinology, 1965
- ASSAY OF THE FOLLICLE STIMULATING HORMONE BASED ON THE AUGMENTATION WITH HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPINEndocrinology, 1953
- Ultraviolet Absorption Spectra of Proteins and Amino AcidsAdvances in Protein Chemistry, 1952