Physicians rely on accurate, sensitive, and specific measurement of pituitary hormones to aid in the diagnosis of pituitary diseases and to monitor the effectiveness of treatments. Over the past 10-20 years, we have seen improved analytical specificity for measuring hormones and enhanced analytical sensitivity to detect very small concentrations of hormones.
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 |
