[Diagnostic capacities of determination of biologically active free testosterone in blood, by using current...

In most cases, current methods for immunoassay of blood total testosterone fail to provide a sufficient diagnostic accuracy. The authors measured the concentration of free testosterone in the blood and saliva samples from 189 males aged 19 to 83 years who had come to the clinic to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of various endocrine dysfunctions. Ultrafiltration had been previously carried on Amicon® Ultra membrane 30K filters (MILLIPORE) to determine the serum level of free testosterone. The ultrasensitive enhanced luminescence technique (IBL-Hamburg, Germany) was used to measure its concentration in the ultrafiltrate and saliva. The detection rate of androgen deficiency from the levels of free testosterone in the ultrafiltrate was higher than that from those of total testosterone and calculated free testosterone in blood. The preultrafiltration salivary and serum free testosterone values measured by the ultrasensitive enhanced luminescence technique may complement a sensitive marker of clinical symptoms to detect different forms of androgenic disorders.