APPLICATIQN OF RAPID, SENSITIVE HAEMAGGLUTINATION TEST FOR ESTIMATION OF URINARY LUTEINIZING HORMONE IN CASES OF MALE SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION

Higonavis is a reagent available for determining urinary HCG and LH levels through haemagglutination. Easy to handle, Higonavis is useful with its levels of sensitivity, 5-8mIU/ml for HCG (NIH preparation A) and 12.5-20mIU/ml for LH (2nd IRP-HMG), nearly equivalent to those in radioimmunoassay. In a series of controlled experiments, we conducted comparative evaluations between levels of urinary LH and those of plasma LH respectively determined with Higonavis and radioimmunoassay on a simultaneous basis in 14 patients of male sexual dysfunction. In half of them, the effects of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) loading on such levels were studied to identify the physiological significance of changes in the values of urinary LH and plasma LH. Both results with Higonavis and radioimmunoassay fairly agreed with each other, suggesting the assay with Higonavis is an effective alternative to radioimmunoassay. The present comparative evaluations of urinary LH with Higonavis and plasma LH with radioimmunoassay following LH-RH loading showed a deviation in phase, in which the peak value appeared in plasma LH ahead of urinary LH. When this natural phase deviation due to the usually slower response in urinary LH than in plasma LH is reasonably adjusted, the two curves may turn out fairly paralled to each other, indicating the available substitution of the assay with Higonavis for radioimmunoassay in LH-RH tests. Our repeated tests on the same samples have well supported the reproducibility of the assay