Radioimmunoassay of secretin. A critical review and current status

The radioimmunoassay methods of secretin are reviewed with respect to production of antibody, preparation of radioactive tracers, and effect of plasma interference. The major difference in the secretin assay methods resides in handling plasma interference. Thus the assay sensitivity decreased markedly when the assay was conducted by diluting plasma samples. When the assay was conducted by compensating for plasma interference with homologous hormone-free plasma, the effect of plasma interference was greatly reduced, leading to a more sensitive assay. However, this method probably can not obtain consistent results with plasma samples collected under various experimental conditions. The method is still subject to considerable desensitization and assay variation. On the other hand, the elimination of plasma interference before assay results in the most sensitive secretin assays capable of detecting consistently a significant postprandial rise in plasma secretin level. It is concluded that a sensitive, validated secretin radioimmunoassay should be one that is capable of detecting increments of plasma secretin in response to doses of intraduodenal acid at 0.055 mEq/min or lower and intravenous administration of exogenous secretin at 0.03 CU/kg/hr with concomitant stimulation of pancreatic bicarbonate and water secretion. With a sensitive and accurate radioimmunoassay for secretin, it is now possible to further investigate the physiology and pathophysiology of secretin.