Sample pre-treatment determines the clinical usefulness of acid-labile subunit immunoassays in the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency and acromegaly

Abstract

The diagnostic accuracy of ALS varies with assay choice and pre-treatment modality. UREA, which results in migration of ALS at the expected MW on a sizing column, has the highest specificity and sensitivity. Thus, if measured in an assay in which ALS is unfolded without aggregation, ALS is a clinically highly useful parameter for the assessment of GH.