Abstract

The performance of existing immunoassays and bioassays for activins is compromised by the presence of activin-binding proteins such as follistatin and α₂ macroglobulin (α₂M) in biological fluids. To overcome this problem we have developed a novel two-site enzyme immunoassay procedure for activin-A which incorporates an analyte denaturation and oxidation step. The optimized assay is sensitive (detection limit ∼10 pg/well), precise (mean within- and between-plate coefficients of variation 4·9 and 9·1% respectively) and accurate (activin-A recovery values of 102 ± 3 and 96 ± 5% for bovine follicular fluid (FF) and human serum respectively). In specificity tests, high concentrations of follistatin (500 ng/ml) and α₂M (100 μg/ml) did not interfere with the response signal to activin-A. In addition, no significant cross-reactivity was observed with a range of related molecules including inhibin-A, inhibin-B, activin-B (all <0·5%), bovine pro-αC and follistatin (both <0·1%). Response curves parallel to the activin-A standard curve were obtained for a variety of test samples including bovine, human, ovine and porcine FF, human sera and conditioned medium from cultured bovine and human granulosa cells. Fractionation of bovine FF by SDS-PAGE confirmed assay specificity since only one peak of activin-A immunoreactivity was detected (M _r ∼25 k) in eluted gel slices. However, gel-permeation chromatography showed that under physiological conditions all of the detectable activin-A in bovine FF eluted with apparent M _r values of >700 and 60–200 k reflecting its association with binding protein(s). Analysis of bovine FF samples (n=76) from morphologically dominant follicles during the luteal phase showed that activin-A levels were positively correlated with inhibin-A (r=+0·54; P<0·001) and total β subunit immunoreactivity (r=+0·32; P<0·005) but not with total α subunit immunoreactivity (r= −0·09). Classification of these follicles according to oestrogenic status showed that activin-A, inhibin-A and total β subunit levels were highest in oestrogen-inactive follicles (P<0·01) whereas total α subunit levels were lowest in these follicles (P<0·001). Activin-A levels were measurable in all human serum samples analysed, ranging from 128 pg/ml during the normal menstrual cycle, 210 pg/ml in women undergoing ovarian hyperstimulation and ∼ 500 pg/ml in postmenopausal women to over 4000 pg/ml during pregnancy.

In conclusion, the present assay provides a reliable method for quantitating total (i.e. bound+free) activin-A concentrations in a variety of biological samples and should prove useful for further in vivo and in vitro studies in a range of species including man.

Journal of Endocrinology (1996) 148, 267–279

ABSTRACT

A two-site (liquid-phase) immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) for dimeric inhibin has been developed using antibodies raised against synthetic peptide sequences corresponding to the N-terminus (1-32) of the α subunit and the C-terminal region (82-114) of the β_A subunit of M_r ∼30,000 human inhibin. Highly-purified M_r 32,000 bovine inhibin (standard) gave a dilution curve parallel to those for bovine follicular fluid (bFF), human (h)FF and rat ovary extract. Whilst the assay detected both M_r 56,000 and 32,000 inhibin forms in bFF, little reaction with higher M_r forms was evident. Cross-reaction of 'free' inhibin subunit (Mr 25,000 form) and recombinant human activin A in the IRMA were minimal (< 0.1 and < 2% respectively). Although the detection limit of the IRMA (∼ 50 pg/tube) was similar to that of several reported radioimmunoassays (RIA), the IRMA was unable to detect dimeric inhibin in jugular or utero-ovarian vein plasma of heifers. Similarly, when assayed by IRMA, bFF, hFF and rat ovary extract contained 8-58 times less inhibin than was indicated by RIA. These observations are consistent with earlier evidence that the ovary secretes a substantial excess of 'free' inhibin α subunit and that this material reaches the peripheral circulation. Surprisingly, however, the inhibin contents of bFF, hFF and rat ovary extract determined by in vitro bioassay were 8-23 times greater than the corresponding IRMA values, being similar to those derived by RIA. It is suggested that this quantitative discrepancy between inhibin contents estimated by IRMA and bioassay may be due to (1) loss of bioactivity of the inhibin standard during its purification and/or storage, (2) failure of the IRMA to detect high Mr forms of bioactive inhibin and/or (3) cross reaction of follistatin and other FSH-suppressing substances in the in vitro bioassay.

Abstract

Recent modifications to a previously reported two-site IRMA have permitted the measurement of serum/plasma concentrations and ovarian contents of inhibin-A (α-β_A dimer) in pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG)treated immature female rats and adult rats throughout the 4-day oestrous cycle. For comparison, total α inhibin levels were also measured by α subunit-directed inhibin RIA and found to be at least tenfold higher (relative to the same 32 kDa bovine inhibin standard used to calibrate both assays). In immature female rats, serum levels of inhibin-A dimer and total α inhibin increased within 3 h of PMSG injection and rose in parallel over the next 48 h to values four- to fivefold higher than pretreatment levels. Ovariectomy led to a rapid and parallel fall in both inhibin-A dimer and total α inhibin; initial half-lives (±95% confidence intervals) were 22 ± 4 and 20 ± 5 min respectively. In adult rats, marked fluctuations in plasma concentrations and ovarian contents of inhibin-A dimer and total α inhibin occurred during the 4-day oestrous cycle, most notably between the morning of pro-oestrus and the morning of oestrus. Plasma levels of inhibin-A dimer and total α inhibin peaked on the afternoon of pro-oestrus just before the preovulatory gonadotrophin surge. After ovulation, both inhibin-A dimer and total α inhibin fell abruptly (two- to threefold by 0200 h on oestrus; P<0·001), while FSH showed a secondary rise which peaked at 0700 h on oestrus. Although IRMA- and RIA-derived inhibin values generally followed a similar pattern across the 4-day cycle (plasma: r=0·52, P<0·001; ovary: r=0·41, P<0·001), a transient rise in plasma and ovarian inhibin-A dimer was detected at 0700 h on oestrus (P<0·01) which was unaccompanied by a rise in total α inhibin. This rise in plasma inhibin-A dimer was probably responsible for terminating the post-ovulatory FSH surge since FSH levels declined steadily over the next 15 h. Overall, plasma inhibin-A dimer and FSH concentrations across the whole cycle were negatively correlated (r= −0·22, P<0·01) whereas no correlation existed between total α inhibin and FSH (r= −0·11, P=0·12).

Journal of Endocrinology (1995) 147, 271–283

Abstract

Monoclonal antibodies, specific for the βa and βb subunits of activin, were used to develop a new two-site ELISA for activin-AB. The assay had a detection limit of 0·19 ng/ml. High concentrations of activin-AB were found in bovine, ovine and porcine follicular fluids (FF), with less in human FF (1310, 1730, 688 and 7 ng/ml respectively). Recovery of spiked activin-AB standard from human, bovine and ovine FFs and from homogenized human placental extracts averaged 91%, 115%, 115% and 94% respectively. Within-plate coefficients of variation for different concentrations of activin-AB were between 1·3% and 2·67%. The between-plate coefficient of variation was 5·5%. Crossreactivity experiments showed the high specificity of the assay for activin-AB, with inhibin-A, inhibin-B, follistatin, activin-A and activin-B all cross-reacting <0·2%. Incubation with high concentrations of follistatin (500 ng/ml) prior to assay did not affect the recovery of activin-AB. Samples of bovine, porcine, ovine and human FF gave dose responses parallel to that of the standard, as did bovine granulosa cell-conditioned media. In human and porcine FF, levels of activin-A and activin-AB were similar whereas, in bovine and ovine FF, activin-A levels were approximately threefold higher than activin-AB levels. As we have reported previously for activin-A, nearly all of the endogenous activin-AB in bovine FF was detected in the eluate from gel permeation chromatography with an M _r of >700 000 indicating its association with higher molecular weight binding protein(s). By contrast, after denaturation, immunoreactive activin-AB was detected with an M _r of ∼25 000 consistent with the complete dissociation from binding proteins.

Activin-A was detected in relatively high concentrations in human FF (∼5 ng/ml), homogenized placental extracts (4·35–95·5 ng/g), sera from pregnant women (>4 ng/ml) and amniotic fluid (3–13 ng/ml), and in much lower concentrations in postmenopausal serum (500 pg/ml), normal cycle serum (100–200 pg/ml), serum from gonadotrophin-treated women (200 pg/ml) and normal adult male serum (225 pg/ml). Activin-A was also found in the culture media from explants of human amnion, chorion, maternal decidua and placenta. In marked contrast, activin-AB was undetectable (<0·19 ng/ml) in all of these samples with the exception of human FF (∼7 ng/ml).

In conclusion, we have developed a sensitive and specific ELISA to measure total (bound+free) activin-AB. Preliminary results show a more restricted distribution of this isoform compared with activin-A. The presence of high levels of both activin-A and activin-AB in FF suggests a function for both isoforms in the developing ovarian follicle.

Journal of Endocrinology (1997) 153, 221–230

Abstract

Recently, inhibin-A has been shown to be a useful new prenatal marker of Down's syndrome, significantly increasing detection rates. While the placenta is believed to be the major source of inhibin in pregnancy, there are actually very limited data available on specific inhibin dimers in pregnancy. Using a sensitive and specific ELISA we have measured the inhibin-A content of amniotic fluid (AF) to investigate further the biology of inhibin-A in chromosomally normal and abnormal pregnancies. AF from 51 Down's syndrome and 161 chromosomally normal pregnancies between 16 and 19 weeks of gestation were analysed, blinded as to whether the sample was from a Down's syndrome or normal pregnancy. There were no sex differences in inhibin-A content in either the control or Down's syndrome pregnancies. The median (10th–90th percentiles) inhibin-A level in the control pregnancies increased from 339·6 (175·2–649·1) pg/ml at 16 weeks to 592·9 (256·4–1027·3) pg/ml at 19 weeks of gestation. The median (95% confidence interval) inhibin-A in the Down's syndrome pregnancies, expressed as multiples of the median (MoM) to correct for gestation, was 0·77 (0·68–0·89) MoM, significantly lower than the controls (P<0·001, Mann–Whitney U test).

We believe that these data are compatible with more than one source of inhibin-A in pregnancy and suggest that the fetal membranes may be contributing significantly to AF inhibin-A content. Further, our data would suggest that the endocrine function of the placenta and the other inhibin source(s) are differentially regulated.

Journal of Endocrinology (1997) 152, 109–112