Endocrinology

Medical Scope

More than 60 parameters are routinely measured in serum, plasma or saliva, and ten metabolites can be assayed in urine, including steroids (androgens, oestrogens, glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids), peptides (ACTH, ADH, Peptide C, ...) and proteins (gonadotropin, prolactin, TSH, GH, HCG, insulin, ...) for the investigation of the function of all endocrine glands, including the thyroid, the gonads, the pituitary gland, the adrenal cortex, the pancreas and the placenta. Other tests probe glucose metabolism and growth. The investigation could also extend to the determination of auto-antibodies (against the thyroid, insulin, GAD-65, IA2, etc.) and vector proteins (Testosterone-Oestradiol Binding Globulin, IGF BP3, IGF BP1).

These assays can help with the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of diseases that are caused by impaired endocrine function, e.g. male and female infertility, premature and delayed puberty, hypogonadism, growth disorders, female hyperandrogenism and hirsutism, high blood pressure, dysthyroidism and diabetes.

Activities and Techniques

Biomnis uses the technique which complies with relevant requirements. Steroids in the blood, urine and saliva continue to be measured by radio-immunoassay (sometimes after extraction with or without chromatography) or, for conjugated species, by hydrolysis. Most peptides and glycoproteins are also assayed using usually direct immunoradiometric methods.