The stability in vitro of bioactive and immunoreactive LH in human blood and plasma.

The degree of stability in vitro of bioactive and immunoreactive LH in human blood, plasma and serum was examined. Bioactivity and immunoreactivity of LH were assayed by the dispersed mouse Leydig cell assay and by standard radioimmunoassay respectively, using the same reference preparation (first international reference preparation for human pituitary LH 68/40 for immunoassay). Bioactive and immunoreactive LH were stable in blood and plasma at 22 degrees C for up to 4 and 24 h respectively, and in blood at 4 degrees C for up to 24 h. There was no loss of biological or immunological LH activity in plasma which had been either snap-frozen and stored at -70 degrees C, allowed to freeze at -20 degrees C and stored at that temperature or kept at 4 degrees C for 24 h and then stored at -70 degrees C. Likewise, the levels of LH in plasma and serum which had been stored at either -20 or -70 degrees C and then thawed and refrozen up to four times remained unchanged. In addition, the biological and immunological activity of LH was not affected after vortexing samples of plasma or serum for up to 60 s. Bioactive LH was also stable in plasma samples after prolonged storage (up to 9 months) at either -70 or -20 degrees C. We conclude that LH bioactivity and immunoreactivity are stable in blood and plasma following a variety of treatments commonly experienced during normal handling of a blood sample after venepuncture.