Enzyme immunoassay method for total alpha gonadotropin in human urine samples.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and validate an assay for urinary luteinizing hormone (LH) metabolite that can be used for frozen-thawed urine.

DESIGN

The study is in two parts: (1) selected urine samples were evaluated to determine all components of urinary LH metabolism, and then (2) 26 complete menstrual cycles were evaluated using daily matched blood and urine samples.

SETTING

Urinary and serum samples were collected for normal women undergoing artificial insemination because of the infertility of their partners.

PATIENTS

Patients were selected to have normal ovarian function.

INTERVENTION

None.

MAIN OUTCOME

Serum LH and urinary LH metabolites were measured in daily samples from 25 ovulatory cycles.

RESULTS

The midcycle serum LH peak was highly correlated to the measurement of urinary LH metabolites in frozen:thawed urine samples.

CONCLUSION

A simple enzyme assay for LH/LH-alpha can be used to detect the midcycle LH surge on frozen-thawed urine samples. This method has practical application in a situation that involves self-collected urine samples stored frozen and later analyzed to determine the day of ovulation.