Progesterone Immunoassay Available in the United States

Progesterone and estrogen hormones regulate the accessory organs during the menstrual cycle and the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy.

Measurements of serum progesterone are also used to check the effectiveness of ovulation induction, to monitor progesterone replacement therapy, and to detect and evaluate patients at risk of spontaneous abortion during the early weeks of pregnancy. They are not considered a suitable means for monitoring fetal wellbeing during the third trimester.

Performed on the Olympus (Center Valley, PA, USA) AU3000i analyzer, the progesterone assay is a paramagnetic particle, chemiluminescent, competitive immunoassay with a measuring range of approximately 0.10-55 ng/ml. It measures quantitative concentrations of progesterone in either 10 µl of serum or lithium-heparin plasma samples after 28 minutes of processing time. The AU3000i system can automatically extend this range to measure samples with a progesterone concentration exceeding 55 ng/ml by diluting 20 µl samples at a ratio of 1:10 using the onboard Olympus sample diluent 3. Each progesterone kit is sufficient to process 100 tests, and contains progesterone reagents, a single ready-to-use calibrator, and a single ready-to-use control. Reagents are stable on board the AU3000i system for 28 days.

"The addition of the progesterone assay to the already available Olympus fertility assays luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and prolactin is an important step in the development of a panel of tests comprising from 7-10% of the test volume in a routine clinical laboratory,” said Lorraine Damico, director of immunoassay marketing for Olympus America Inc.

Olympus Diagnostic Systems provides solutions that meet the high productivity demands of hospitals, integrated healthcare delivery networks, reference labs, blood banks, physician offices, and pharmaceutic labs. Olympus offers a standardized line of random access chemistry-immuno analyzers, along with lab automation systems, blood bank analyzers, and reagents.

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