A NEW PROLACTIN ASSAY METHOD; SOME EXPERIMENTS WHICH PROVIDE ARGUMENTS FOR ITS SPECIFICITY

Abstract

Experiments have been carried out to investigate the specificity of an assay method for prolactin which was described previously. From the results it may be concluded that: 1. an increase in the growth hormone content of rat hypophyseal material tested for its prolactin content has no influence on the results; an interference owing to decreasing amounts of growth hormone is very unlikely; 2. the same holds true for ACTH and TSH, unless these substances exert a hitherto unknown action on the corpus luteum which is not mediated by the adrenal cortex or the thyroid gland; 3. contamination with LH or FSH of the material to be investigated does not influence the results of the assays, neither with regard to the reaction to a dose of prolactin, nor with regard to the synergistic effects of oestrogens liberated by these hypophyseal hormones; 4. the presence of estrogen in the material (serum) to be tested does not interfere with the assays. Thus, as far as comparative assays are concerned, this method may be considered specific.