Description
Introduction: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is a hormone synthesized and secreted by gonadotropes in the anterior pituitary gland. FSH regulates the development, growth, pubertal maturation, and reproductive processes of the human body. FSH and Luteinizing hormone (LH) act synergistically in reproduction. FSH is a glycoprotein. Each monomeric unit is a protein molecule with a sugar attached to it; two of these make the full, functional protein. Its structure is similar to those of LH, TSH, and hCG. The protein dimer contains 2 polypeptide units, labeled alpha and beta subunits. The alpha subunits of LH, FSH, TSH, and hCG are identical, and contain 92 amino acids. The beta subunits vary. FSH has a beta subunit of 118 amino acids (FSHB), which confers its specific biologic action and is responsible for interaction with the FSH-receptor. The sugar part of the hormone is composed of fucose, galactose, mannose, galactosamine, glucosamine, and sialic acid, the latter being critical for its biologic half-life. The half-life of FSH is 3-4 hours. Its molecular wt is 30000.
Principle of the Assay: The microtiter plate provided in this kit has been pre-coated with an goat-anti-rabbit antibody. Standards or samples are then added to the appropriate microtiter plate wells with a HRP-conjugated FSH and antibody preparation specific for FSH and incubated. Then substrate solutions are added to each well. The enzyme-substrate reaction is terminated by the addition of a sulphuric acid solution and the color change is measured spectrophotometrically at a wavelength of 450 nm +/- 2 nm. The concentration of FSH in the samples is then determined by comparing the O.D. of the samples to the standard curve