I wonder if there're some Elisa kits which have been identified to test mice T3/T4/TSH, I've searched R&D, and there're only T4 Kit.Or could I use the RIA machine used in clinical testing which is for human? I just worry about the blood volume could not reach RIA machine's lowest baseline.
Thank you a lot for sharing your exp.!
Hi Frankie Yu ! For adult and postnal rats we use routinely use RIAs to quantify serum total T4 and T3 using coated tube kits from IVD Technologies (below - veterinary). We have in-house validated the total T4 kit with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and have found comparable results across the two methods. The sample volume is not too bad either (25 ul/rxn, 50 ul total for technical duplicates). Of course for total T3 and free T4 the serum concentrations can be low depending on the animal’s age and treatment, but we have found they are generally pretty reliable.
If we are concerned that some samples are below the lowest standard, we have made a few modifications that seem to work well in our hands for the total T4 kit. First, we diluted the lowest kit standard to make one more point for the standard curve, and then we also have doubled sample volume. We then adjust the quantified T4 given this doubled volume to determine the final concentration. We have found that when doing this the standard curve is still linear and doubling the rxn volume does not seem to affect the assay. However, this does not hold true with free T4 kit and we haven’t tried this with total T3 kit. But it is worth trying out if you think your samples may be difficult to quantify!
TSH is tricky and requires quite a bit of volume, and our colleagues prefer to quantify using a homemade RIA. Below is a paper that describes the method. Also, don’t forget to sample all animals early in the day (we do it before noon) because of the hormones’ diurnal cycle. I hope this helps and good luck! Please let me know if you have any questions.
http://ivdtechnologies.com/veterinary-ria-kits/
Article Effects of chronic exposure to triclosan on reproductive and...
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Automotive Engineering
- Machines