Aldosterone assay characteristics:
- Assay Principle: Competitive ELISA
- Dynamic range: 5.7 – 1000 pg/mL
- Total assay time: 120 minutes
- Sample volume: 50 µL EDTA Serum, Plasma (EDTA, Citrate, Heparin) or Urine
- Mean Intra Assay precision: 7.6 %
- Mean Inter Assay precision: 9.3 %
- Analytical sensitivity: 5.7 pg/mL
Clinical Revelance:
Measurement of aldosterone levels in serum in conjunction with plasma renin levels (aldosterone/renin-ratio; ARR) can be used to differentiate between primary and secondary aldosteronism.
The measurement of aldosterone in concert with selective suppression and stimulation tests can be used to further differentiate primary aldosteronism into two basic types:
- Primary aldosteronism caused by an adenoma of one or both adrenals.
- Primary aldosteronism caused by adrenal hyperplasia.
This differentiation is vital in the treatment and management of the disease. The adrenal adenomas respond well to surgery whereas hyperplastic disease of the adrenals is generally better managed medically.
In addition, pharmacological modulation of nuclear hormone receptors is a common strategy for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
Therefore, determining the effects of such treatments on the RAAS is of increasing value in evaluating the safety and efficacy of new therapeutics.
In summary, the precise and accurate measurement of serum aldosterone by enzyme immunoassay can be an important adjunct to a diagnostic laboratory battery for the differential diagnosis of hypertensive disease.
Advantages of DRG ELISAs:
- Straight forward test procedure
- Different sample types possible: serum, plasma and urine
- Total assay time two hours
- Good correlation to RIA (COAT-A-COUNT Siemens) and Tandem-MS
- Standards are calibrated against International Reference Material
- Two controls included in the kit
