Endocrinology

Hormone assays are essential for the diagnosis and therapeutic follow-up of pathologies resulting from endocrine dysfunction.

For instance, they contribute to the investigation of infertility in men and women, premature and delayed puberty, hypogonadism, growth disorders, hyperandrogenism and hirsutism in women, high blood pressure, dysthyroidism or diabetes.

Over 60 parameters are routinely measured in serum, plasma or saliva, as well as 10 metabolites in urine. They include steroids (delta 4 androstenedione, 17-OH progesterone, 11-desoxycortisol…), peptides (ACTH, ADH, C-peptide, …) and proteins (AMH, inhibin B, somatomedin C…) for the functional investigation of all endocrine glands: the thyroid, the gonads, the pituitary gland, the adrenal cortex, the endocrine pancreas, the placenta, … as well as carbohydrate metabolism and growth. The investigation could also be extended to assays on autoantibodies (against the TSH receptors, insulin, GAD65, IA2) and on carrier proteins (TBG: Thyroxin Binding Globulin, CBG : Cortisol Binding Globulin).

Biomnis performs these assays using techniques compliant with the different analytical requirements, which occasionally include radioimmunology.

On the other hand, LC/MS-MS is used to assay simultaneously catecholamines and their methylated derivatives in urine and plasma. Owing to its high performance, in terms of sensitivity and specificity, this assay can detect free forms of plasma methoxyamines, with greater specificity, especially for the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma.