Research Use Salivary DHEA EIA

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Specific Salivary DHEA Enzyme Immunoassay

Quantitative measurement of salivary DHEA.

RUO

626

Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA), Colormetric

10.2 pg/mL– 1000 pg/mL

1.1 pg/mL

50 µL

2hrs @ Room Temperature

96 wells

450 nm

2° - 8°C

12 Months

Summary and Assay Principle:

DHEA is a C19 steroid produced in the adrenal cortex and to a lesser extent gonads (1). DHEA has a relatively low affinity for sex hormone binding globulin (2). It circulates in the blood as precursors to estrogens and androgens (3). DHEA levels are high at birth, low in children, increases through puberty and reaches peak levels just after puberty (4). In both male and female levels begin to fall as age increases (5). DHEA is cleared more rapidly than dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) in blood. For this reason, the DHEA levels are 100-1000 times lower than DHEA-S in blood. Only 1-10% of DHEA circulating in plasma is in its free or biologically active form. The rest is bound to serum proteins. In saliva, DHEA enters via intracellular mechanisms and reflects the level of Free DHEA in plasma (6).

The physiological role of DHEA has not been clearly defined. Many papers have been published on DHEA showing effects on human health and physiology. DHEA has been reported to have the following effects: anti-diabetes, anti-dementia, anti-obesity, anti-cancer, anti-stress, anti-viral, anti-aging and anti-cardiac disease. DHEA may serve as a marker for hyperandrenalcorticism. Hirsute women and adolescents with acne may have elevated levels of DHEA (7,8).

Assay Principles:

The Pantex Salivary Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) EIA kit, Cat #626 is based on the competition principal and microplate separation. DHEA calibrators of known concentration and unknown amounts of DHEA in saliva samples compete with a fixed amount of DHEA conjugated to horse radish peroxidase (DHEA-HRP) for binding sites with a rabbit DHEA polyclonal antiserum bound to GARGG (goat anti-rabbit gamma globulin) coated wells of a microplate. After incubation, unbound components are washed away, enzyme substrate solution is added and a blue color formed. This reaction is stopped with an acid solution to produce a yellow color. The optical density is then read at 450 nm. The amount of DHEA-HRP detected is inversely proportional to the amount of DHEA in a sample.